ARGENTINA, ONE OF THE FAVOURITES TO WIN THE WORLD CUP have sensationally been beaten by Saudi Arabia on day three of the World Cup in Qatar.
Goals from Al-Dawsari and Al-Shehri in the second half were the difference for the middle eastern side
Messi opened the scoring for the south Americans in the first half with an early penalty after Argentina were awarded a contentious VAR decision.
The game was heading for a routine Argentine win, but the game flipped on its head.
#Qatar2022
⚽ @Argentina 🇦🇷 1 (Lionel #Messi) 🆚 #ArabiaSaudita 🇸🇦 2 (Saleh Alshehri y Salem Aldawsari)
👉 Final del partido
🔜 El elenco comandado por Lionel Scaloni jugará el próximo sábado ante #México 🇲🇽 pic.twitter.com/5ezF3NgOBF— Selección Argentina 🇦🇷 (@Argentina) November 22, 2022
Saudi Arabia rode their luck in the first half with their offside trap and highline and were lucky to go into the changing room 1-0 down.
Inter Milan's Lautaro Martínez had the ball in the back of the net twice in the first half, but was correctly ruled offside both times by VAR.
The first half ended and whatever Saudi Arabia's head coach Hervé Renard said at halftime seemed to have worked for his side.
Al-Shehri latched on to a rather hopeful pass forward. He nudged the ball away from Romero, affording him space to unleash a shot which bobbled across the face of goal and into the bottom right corner past Emi Martinez.
Moments later, the Saudi's were ahead. Al-Dawsari plucked the ball out from the sky and turned inside two Argentina defenders before curling his finish past Martinez.
The Copa America champions were stunned and tried their best to get back into the game. They huffed and puffed but could not break down a resolute Saudi team.
Messi had a glorious chance on 85-minutes to make it 2-2 but could only direct his header at goalkeeper Al-Owais Moments later Messi had another shot headed clear off the line.
Due to injury's, subs and a little bit of time wasting, 14 minutes and a bit of injury time were added on. The final whistle eventually blew and with that it meant that Saudi Arabia went onto record one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history.
The result now means that Argentina's 36-game unbeaten run has ended.
Saudi Arabia are ranked 51st in the world, two places behind the Republic of Ireland.
Argentina are the current holders of the Copa America and have some of the world's best footballers in their side, like Lionel Messi.
Argentina will now play Mexico on Saturday (7pm), while Saudi Arabia will play Poland at (1pm) that same day.
Let's hope it's another cracker.
⚽️ 49’ - Al-Shehri (1-1)
⚽️ 53’ - Al Dawsari (1-2)
SAUDI ARABIA HAVE COMPLETELY TURNED THE GAME ON IT’S HEAD! 🤯#Qatar2022#Qatar#SaudiArabia#FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/P1iW1JJQNb— Abu Muhammad (@ajaoo_) November 22, 2022
