Saudi Arabia, the least favorite team to come out of Group C, according to bookmakers, on Tuesday afternoon gave the spectators a shocker as they toppled tournament favorite Argentina in a comeback 1-2 win.
Argentina had led in the first half through Lionel Messi’s penalty in the 10th minute.
Despite the huge possession by the South American football giant, the Saudi Arabians recorded the biggest world cup upset and first world cup opening match victory.
The well-motivated Saudi side took the football game to a new level as they converted the only two shots on goal to dismantle confidence in Messi’s Argentina.
Saleh Al Shehhri made a sneaky move past Argentine defenders and shot straight into the back of the net to pull up 1-1 in the 48th minute of second half.
Five minutes later, Salem Al Dawsari scored a superb shot to beat the Argentine goalkeeper.
After the 53rd minute lead the argentine did everything in the book to clear the dark spell from the group C underdog, but could not equalize.
Not even the additional 14 minutes to regulation time could save Messi’s Argentina as the unexpected Saudis crashed the expectations of Argentina’s great start in Qatar 2022.
Following the defeat, Argentina players trooped off the field after suffering one of the great World Cup shocks.
The shell-shocked players bunched together at the end and perhaps feeling the humiliation left without exchanging shirts with the Saudi players for whom this victory will be long remembered whatever else happens for them in this tournament.
The players became an instant heroes and Lusail 2022 immediately became a part of Saudi soccer folklore.
