In the opening match of Group C for the 2022 World Cup, Saudi Arabia comes from behind to defeat Argentina 2-1.
It appeared to be the 2022 World Cup’s biggest mismatch. On the field, it was among the biggest surprises in World Cup lore. The most remarkable result in Saudi Arabian football history was achieved by the 51st-ranked team in the world, Saudi Arabia, who stunned one of the tournament favorites, Argentina, by rallying from a goal down. If romantics get their way, Lionel Messi will lead Argentina to victory in his final World Cup and he still might because this loss won’t be fatal. However, that particular storyline was shattered at the Lusail Stadium.
All seven of Messi’s World Cup goals have come in the group stage of the competition, and it took him 10 minutes to score one. It was a penalty kick, the fourth to be given in the tournament’s first five games. The great man did this to become the first Argentinean player to score in four World Cups.
Saudi Arabia kept up its high line, which appeared careless. It should be noted that Argentina appeared to be offside six times in the opening 32 minutes. Before halftime, there were seven offsides, which gave the assistant referees a field day.
Even though they were able to stop the usual Argentine advances, Saudi Arabia failed to register a single shot in the opening period for the third time in a World Cup. For Argentina, it was just the second time since 1966 that they went the entire first half of a World Cup without facing a single attempt. Although Lionel Scaloni’s team will undoubtedly be disappointed not to have a larger lead than 1-0, they will feel sufficiently in control at the half.
They would have felt anything but confident four minutes into the second half when Saleh Al Shehri of Saudi Arabia scored on their opening shot to tie the score. It was the striker’s fifth goal in his last five competitive shots on goal, and the Green Falcons scored their first World Cup goal ever against a previous champion.
And in less than four minutes, Argentina’s situation went from embarrassing to disastrous: captain Salem Al Dawsari scored what is likely the tournament’s best goal, deftly bending the ball past Emi Martnez from the corner of the box. And with two goals already in the bag, Saudi Arabia’s task was straightforward: hold on. Their defence was expertly drilled by Hervé Renard, who earned his first World Cup victory.
However, they hardly had to deal with Messi and company throwing everything at them. If anything, Argentina barely put Saudi goalkeeper Mohammed Al Owais to the test after falling behind; Messi’s missed free-kick more accurately summed up his alarmingly uninteresting 90 minutes.
Argentina’s 36-match winning streak was broken by this historic upset, but they still have to play Mexico and Poland, two teams that are supposedly stronger than the Saudis, in order to avoid only their second World Cup group stage exit in their previous 14 qualifying matches.
After the referee spotted a foul on Paredes on the VAR monitor, Argentina was given a penalty, giving them the lead in the 10th minute. Al Owais dipped in the wrong direction as Messi rolled the penalty kick past him. Three more goals by the South American team—two by Martinez and one by Messi—were scored in the first half, but they were all called back for offside.
In the first 45 minutes, Saudi Arabia was unable to muster a single shot; however, in the second half, they managed two shots on goal and scored two goals. Romero’s deflection allowed Al Shehri to score in the 48th minute, bringing Saudi Arabia back into the game. Al Dawsari then gave Saudi Arabia the lead with a breathtaking curling goal. Al Owais made five saves during the contest, and in the 92nd minute, substitute Al Amri cleared the ball off the line to give his team a 2-1 victory.
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