Germany's national soccer team received a hero's welcome on Tuesday as they returned from Brazil after beating Argentina to win the World Cup for the fourth time. Thousands of fans lined the streets of the capital dressed in national colours to greet the team members who paraded the city by bus before celebrating on stage at the Brandenburg Gate.

Fans started gathering at Berlin's Tegel airport from dawn to witness the team's arrival on the specially-branded "Fanhansa" jet.

Thousands also arrived early to secure the best viewing spots at the main venue of festivities in Berlin, the landmark Brandenburg Gate.

The team travelled the streets of Berlin in an open-top bus emblazoned with the years they have won the competition - 1954, 1974, 1990 and 2014.

Hundreds of thousands gathered in front of a stage installed for the team's victory parade at Brandenburg Gate.

The players performed an impromptu dance to celebrate their fourth World Cup win and the first since reunification in 1990.

"Without you we wouldn't be here. We are all world champions," Germany coach Joachim Loew told the crowd.

Mario Goetze (right), Germany's 1-0 goal scorer in the final, was greeted with deafening cheers in Berlin's Fanmeile (fan mile).

Players kicked out mini-replicas of the World Cup football to members of the crowd, before performing the Conga on stage.

German midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, who got a battering during Sunday's final against Argentina, addressed the crowd wrapped in a German flag.

Germany's Manuel Neuer had even more reason to celebrate after winning the Golden Glove as the best goalkeeper of the tournament.

FUN TO BE BAD