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Argentina were stunned by Saudi Arabia as their highly anticipated 2022 World Cup campaign began with a seismic Group A defeat by the 750-1 outsiders, ranking as one of the greatest upsets in the history of the competition.
The Albiceleste, unbeaten in 36 matches over the past three years, went ahead with a 10th-minute penalty from captain Lionel Messi, looking to cap a wonderful career by winning the tournament at the fifth attempt.
But Argentina failed to build on their first-half dominance, having three further goals — one for Messi, two for Lautaro Martinez — ruled out for offside.
They were made to pay in a remarkable opening to the second half as Saudi Arabia first leveled and then went in front in the space of five sensational minutes.
First Saleh Al-Shehri surged past Cristian Romero and clipped a left-footed shot into the far corner before, in the 53rd minute, Salem Al-Dawsari spun round, swerved away from a defender and curled in a brilliant effort from the left edge of the area into into the top-right corner.
Argentina tried to find a way back into the game, but Saudi Arabia goalkeeper Mohamed Al-Owais made a series of saves from Nicolas Tagliafico, Messi and Julian Alvarez to seal one of the most remarkable results in World Cup history.
Saudi Arabia now have a chance of reaching the last 16 for only the second time as they prepare to face Poland next, while Argentina must pick themselves up before facing Mexico.
Argentina vs. Saudi Arabia final score
| 1H | 2H | Final | |
| Argentina | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Saudi Arabia | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Goals:
ARG — Lionel Messi (pen) — 10th min.
SAU — Saleh Al-Shehri — 48th min.
SAU — Salem Al-Dawsari — 53rd min.
Lineups:
Argentina (4-3-3, right to left): 23-E. Martinez (GK) — 26-Molina, 13-Romero (Martinez 59′), 19-Otamendi, 3-Tagliafico (Acuna 71′) — 7-De Paul, 5-Paredes (Fernandez 59′), 17-Gomez (Alvarez 71′) — 10-Messi, 22-Martinez, 11-Di Maria
Saudi Arabia (4-3-3, right to left): 21-Al-Owais (GK) — 12-Abdulhamid, 17-Tambakti, 5-Al-Boleahi, 13-Al-Shahrani — 9-Al-Buraikan 23-Kanno, 8-Al-Malki, 7-Al-Faraj (Al-Abid 45+4′), 10-Al-Dawsari — 11-Al-Shehri
Argentina vs. Saudi Arabia World Cup match, as it happened
Lionel Messi: The Argentina superstar appeared miffed in the mixed zone speaking to media following the match.
“I’m fine. The result hurts. It’s really bitter, but we’ve got to keep growing and we’ve got to think about the next games. … My ankle is fine.”
Angel Di Maria: Angel Di Maria expounded a bit more on the result and how it happened:
“I think we created many situations to convert and we couldn’t do it. They shot on goal two or three times and scored twice. That was the game”
“They played with a high line and we had a lot of opportunities to put balls in behind, but they were offside by millimeters and that’s what happened … We knew they played like that and we worked on it … We could’ve easily won 5-0.”
“Before [the World Cup] we weren’t the best and now we’re not the worst. We have to work. We have two finals to play in order to advance. And we think positive as we are. Today’s game could’ve happened any time and the streak was going to end at some point.”
Lautaro Martinez: The forward, who had two goals called back for offside pointed the finger at his own team.
“We lost the game due to our mistakes, more than anything in the second half. These are details that make the difference and we must correct them.
“We should have scored more than one goal in the first half but this is a World Cup and now we have two finals left.
Lionel Scaloni: Argentina’s manager was philosophical about the loss.
“It’s tough to process why in five minutes they scored two goals on us. We have no choice but to lift ourselves up. Today is a sad day.
“The first half was all us. Without the offsides [goals disallowed] on another day they would’ve been goals.
“Losing is never good, especially when you get the feeling that the game got away from us just like that.
“We came into the tournament strong, but these things happen in the World Cup. You can be infinitely superior, but in two plays things get complicated. Although we didn’t play well in the second half, we had our chances.
“You can’t pick when you lose. Luckily, we have two games ahead and we’re going to get it done.”
Scaloni also targeted the new semi-automated offside technology:
“The more level-headed analysis we’ll leave for tomorrow. But right off the bat we have two games and we have to win them. There’s no other choice. The margin for error has reduced.
“The first half everything we planned came off. There was the offside by millimeters that today is an offside with the new rules but a month ago wasn’t offside. We knew they held a high line and we needed to be in position to put ourselves closer to their goal. They do [the high line] well and have done it forever. The new rules favors this in situations when the offside is by millimeters like that.”
Statistical context: The statisticians are coming up with some gems. How about this one: Argentina lost a World Cup game that it was leading at halftime for the first time since the 1930 final against Uruguay.
FULL-TIME: Argentina 1-2 Saudi Arabia
That is up there among the greatest shocks the World Cup has ever seen. Amazing scenes.
104th minute: That’s it! Saudi Arabia have done it!
103rd minute: A further five minutes have been added on, to the eight already announced…we’re still going.
100th min: Argentina in desperation mode now, throwing everything at it. Julian Alvarez rises in the box and meets a cross with a firm header, but Saudi goalkeeper Mohamed Al-Owais saves with a Hollywood-style dive.
95th min: Ooft! Saudi keeper Mohamed Al-Owais comes out to punch a ball away and clobbers his defender, Yasser Al-Shahrani, on the way through. Al-Shahrani lands heavily and is in some trouble. There’ll be more time added on as he will need treatment. A stretcher is being called for.
91st min: Another Argentina shot, from Alvarez I think, another Saudi Arabia clearance, this time off the line. Can the team ranked 53rd in the world pull this off?
90th min: Just the eight minutes of time added on. Standard fare at this World Cup so far, where most matches have gone to 100 minutes.
89th min: Di Maria weaving past a few defenders now and goes down outside the box. Messi sends the free-kick in, Alvarez gets onto it but the magnificent Tambakti is there to clear the danger again.
87th min: Di Maria makes ground down the right flank again and sends another ball into the box, but Saudi Arabia’s Hassan Tambakti gets it away. Is there time for an Argentina equaliser?
84th min: Chance for Messi as he peels off at the back post to meet Angel Di Maria’s cross, but his header is comfortably dealt with by Saudi keeper Mohamed Al-Owais.
80th min: Lionel Messi lining up a free-kick in prime real estate, a few metres outside the Saudi Arabia box. But the maestro can’t keep it down, and it sails well over the bar. Can Argentina find a way back into this game in the final 10 minutes?
78th min: Saleh Al-Shehri, who scored Saudi Arabia’s opening goal, is substituted to a rousing ovation. Sultan Al-Ghanam is on in his place.
75th min: The attendance has just been announced as 88,012, even though the official capacity of the Lusail Iconic Stadium is 80,000. Hmm…
70th min: Another change for Argentina, with Marcos Acuna – an injury doubt before this match – coming on at left-back for Nicolas Tagliafico.
67th min: Abdulelah Al-Malki becomes the first player to be booked for a lunging challenge that catches Nicolas Otamendi on the ankle.
63rd min: Chance for Argentina! Otamendi gets to the right byline and pulls the ball back across goal following a corner. Lisandro Martinez, just on as a substitute, steers it towards goal and it hits Nicolas Tagliafico’s knee but Saudi goalkeeper Mohamed Al-Owais is alive to the danger and saves well.
58th min: Argentina make a trio of substitutions as they try to find a way back into a game that has been transformed in a remarkable start to the second half. Alvarez, Fernandez and Martinez are all introduced, with Paredes, Gomez and Romero making way.
53rd min: OH MY WORD! SAUDI ARABIA ARE IN FRONT! And what a stunning goal it is. Argentina fail to clear a ball into their box and Salem Al-Dawsari spins on it, swerves away from another defender and unleashes a brilliant shot into the top-right corner. Amazing scenes.
48th min: GOAL FOR SAUDI ARABIA! Incredible. Saleh Al-Shehri is onto a long ball over the top, surges past Christian Romero and tucks away a lovely left-footed finish across Emi Martinez into the far corner. Game on!
46th min: We’re back underway for the second half.
HALF-TIME: Argentina 1-0 Saudi Arabia
It could have been 4-0, with Argentina having three goals ruled out for offside, but Saudi Arabia are just about still in it at the break.
45th+3 mins: Huge blow for Saudi Arabia, who see captain Salman Al-Faraj hobbling off after taking a heavy knock in a tackle. Two more minutes of added time remain in this first half.
41st min: The initial free-kick is cleared but it falls to Rodrigo De Paul on the edge of the box, who balloons his right-foot shot over the top. Can Argentina find a second before half-time?
40th min: Abdulelah Al-Malki is pleading his innocence after chopping down Alejandro Gomez but he’s not much of a case. Free-kick to Argentina in a dangerous position on the left side of the penalty area.
34th min: And again! Incredibly, Argentina have a third goal ruled out for offside in the space of 12 minutes as Inter Milan striker Martinez races on to another Messi pass and rounds the keeper before slotting home, before the flag goes up. Albiceleste coach Lionel Scaloni looks a tad frustrated on the touchline, as well he might.
28th min: Argentina have the ball in the net again as Lautaro Martinez takes advantage of the Saudi high line in defence to run through and clip a lovely finish over the advancing Al-Owais into the net. But VAR is going to have another look and sure enough, that’s a second Argentina goal chalked off for offside.
22nd min: Has Messi scored again? The maestro spins away from the Saudi Arabia defence and is clear on goal, putting it away with a trademark finish across the goalkeeper. But no, the flag has gone up and a VAR review confirms he was offside…just.
17th min: Ever-present threat from Argentina at the other end as Martinez moves onto Messi’s pass and fires over, but it’s called back for offside in any case.
15th min: Decent response to going behind from Saudi Arabia, who work themselves fluently into the box but the final ball in is not precise enough and it’s easy meat for Argentina goalkeeper Emi Martinez.
10th min: GOAL! Lionel Messi steps up and calmly slots in his 92nd goal for Argentina to the right of Saudi goalkeeper Mohamed Al-Owais. That’s his seventh World Cup goal.
7th min: We’re going back for a VAR review for a possible penalty after that shoving in the box at the corner. The referee has had a look at the monitor and points to the spot!
6th min: First corner of the game to Argentina, which Messi swings in. Bit of pushing and shoving in the box as Saudi Arabia get it clear initially, but Messi is fouled on the left flank and Argentina will have a free-kick in a promising position.
2nd min: Chance for Messi after just 90 seconds! Di Maria cuts it back from the right flank and Messi, arriving into the box, hits it with his favoured left foot but doesn’t get quite enough on it and Saudi Arabia goalkeeper Mohamed Al-Owais gets down well to beat it away.
1st min: And we’re off.
1 mins from kickoff: The captains, Lionel Messi and Salman Al-Faraj, are shaking hands in the centre
