LUSAIL, November 22
The unheralded Saudi Arabia notched one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history today with a 2-1 win over Lionel Messi’s Argentina thanks to a scintillating second-half comeback.
On his fifth and final quest for the only major trophy to elude him, the 35-year-old Messi scored a 10th minute penalty in a dominant first half display where he and Lautaro Martinez also had three goals disallowed for offside. But Saudi Arabia, the second-lowest ranked team in the tournament after Ghana, threw caution to the wind at the start of the second half, charging at Argentina’s defence in front of a frenzied crowd of 88,012.
First, Saleh Al-Shehri squeezed in a low shot in the 48th minute. Then, to the disbelief of even the Saudi fans, Salem Al-Dawsari curled in a scorching strike from the edge of the penalty area in the 53rd minute to leave Argentina and Messi looking utterly shell-shocked in the Group C opener.
Despite plenty of possession after that, Argentina could not break the defence of Green Falcons, competing in their sixth World Cup but with no previous win in an opening game.
The entire game was played in an extraordinary atmosphere at the Lusail Stadium, with Argentina’s traditionally massive and raucous following matched by the thousands of Saudis who had come across the border to cheer on their team. “Our team fulfils our dreams!” and “Where is Messi? We beat him!”, the green-clad Saudis chanted over and over in the Lusail Stadium, on their feet and greeting every clearance — including one headed off the goal-line —with a deafening roar. — Reuters
Biggest shocks
June 1950
USA 1-0 England
July 1966
North Korea 1-0 Italy
June 1978
Scotland 3-2 Netherlands
June 1990
Argentina 0-1 Cameroon
June 1994
Republic of Ireland 1-0 Italy
May 2002
France 0-1 Senegal
June 2002
Italy 1-2 South Korea
June 2010
Spain 0-1 Switzerland
November 2022
Argentina 1-2 Saudi Arabia
1 Messi became the first Argentinian to score in four World Cups on his 20th appearance in the tournament. Only Diego Maradona has played more games for Argentina at the World Cup — 21 in all.
32 Argentina’s last defeat in their opening match at a World Cup was 32 years ago — against Cameroon in 1990.
36 Saudi Arabia ended Argentina’s 36-game unbeaten run, stretching back to a defeat against Brazil three years ago.
Danes, Poles held
Al Rayyan: Substitute Andreas Cornelius hit the post and Denmark had a late penalty appeal turned down, while Tunisia wasted two clear chances in a 0-0 draw in their World Cup Group D opener at Education City Stadium today. Meanwhile, Poland’s Robert Lewandowski missed a penalty in a 0-0 draw with Mexico. Reuters
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