In a World Cup upset that will go down in history, Saudi Arabia shocks Argentina.

 During this World Cup, LUSAIL in Qatar, a longtime fixture of soccer across the globe, has only recently started to pound the eardrums and give people goosebumps. It served as the soundtrack to one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history. It burst into a resounding whirl of shock and awe. It came from the people in the next hallway.

It turned out that Saudi Arabia's numerous fans, many of whom travelled to this first World Cup in the Arab world by car, were responsible for the unanticipated commotion on a Tuesday afternoon that will live long after that of a Tuesday evening. They were greeted by Saleh al-Shehri's goal after 48 minutes and Salem al-Dawsari's goal after 53 minutes, both of which will remain vivid in their memories. And after those you've got to be kidding me moments, they continued to sing and boom through all of Argentina's threats until they exulted at a 2-1 victory that even they did not predict.

After an ethereal upheaval, he spoke eternal truth, and the upset joined other notable victories like the United States over England in 1950, North Korea over Italy in 1966, Northern Ireland over Spain in 1982, Cameroon over Argentina in 1990, and Senegal over France in 2002. Like any other supporters of an Argentina opponent here, even the supporters of his tenacious team might have come to this opening Group C match with a ticklish sort of dual allegiance. They would have cheered on their country, of course, but they also most likely would have considered themselves lucky to have tickets to see Lionel Messi, the 35-year-old international superstar from Argentina, play in presumably his final five World Cups.

88,012 individuals appeared to have gathered in the contemporary Lusail Stadium right away to celebrate Messi's mania. The first World Cup goal was scored in the stadium's final match, which took place in April 2021, when Saudi Arabia was awarded a penalty for what looked to be some minor roughhousing in the box. Naturally, Messi took the penalty. He has totaled seven goals since making his World Cup debut as a teenager in 2006, all of which have come in group-stage games. Everything appeared to be going as usual with Argentina leading 1-0.

When one of the favorites to win the entire thing faced off against one of the far-flung outsiders on the wagering sheets, everything appeared to be going according to plan. Argentina appeared to score three goals—two by Messi—in an odd sequence between minutes 22 and 34, all on simple infiltrations of Saudi Arabia's thick defensive line, which left the hosts largely unopposed and only facing goalkeeper Mohammed al-Owais.

All three of them were determined to be offside, two with flags raised right away and one with a VAR review. Going into halftime, the score was still 1-0.

Advertisement

As former Argentina player and current manager, Lionel Scaloni admitted, "Some of the decisions were made by inches."

Renard declared, "I think the match was over at that point if we allowed the second goal.

The Argentines, if anything, had a laid-back demeanor that might have worked against them. In the second half, they were caught off guard and made mistakes trying to react. "Your opponent might not always be motivated at his best," Renard continued. This is standard... Even though Lionel Messi wasn't competing against Brazil, try to imagine him facing Saudi Arabia and being told, "We have to start well." This variant is common. Even though Argentina "dominated the first half," according to Scaloni, the offsides caused the game to feel "weird" because "a single goal could swing everything around and that's how things developed."

Four minutes later, with Argentina's defence beginning to falter, the Saudis found themselves unexpectedly crammed into a crowded box with the ball bouncing around a bit. Things started to get a little rowdy when Dawsari took it, dodged a challenge, and drilled a shot into the far right corner, glancing off Martinez's frantic palm.

After then, Owais and Saudi Arabia held on despite numerous strikes directed at them, just two of which appeared to be blinking red. At the 62nd-minute mark, Nicolás Tagliafico's point-blank attempt from a cross into the box from Lisandro Martnez was stopped by Owais. Owais moved out to bat away some problems on the other two minutes into stoppage time, and as celebration drew close, but inadvertently left it open for Julian Alvarez to pound it in. Abdullah al-Amri prevented that from happening and secured his own place in history.

Owais said, "I'm really happy. I was really aware of every minute of this game." Also: "Honest to God, I thought we were good, especially in the closing seconds."

Messi attempted a lot in the last seconds but didn't really threaten. The entire significance of his World Cup had shifted, just as it did for the fans from the neighboring country. The final whistle blew, completing the 14 minutes of extra time that had been prolonged in part as a result of a protracted injury delay. As they stumbled onto the pitch, Saudi players were ecstatic. In the stands, Argentines buried their heads in their hands. Anyone nearby who was filming them may have felt some non-alcoholic beer drip down onto the cheeks as the Saudi fan noise erupted once more.

Renard said, "I feel light," and then he continued.

A historic battle was fought in Qatar, according to the headline in Clarin, Argentina's biggest newspaper.

It's hard to swallow, Scaloni remarked. They scored twice in the space of five minutes. They may have had two out of two shots that were on goal. But we will need to recover from our losses for the upcoming two games (against Mexico and Poland)," in an effort to follow the example of Spain 2010, a champion that dropped its opening encounter. And we don't need to take any further action. Although it's a sad day,

England, which is aware of the weight of expectations, looks stunning to start the World Cup.

Scaloni remarked, "It's hard to digest." "They scored twice in five minutes. Their chances of scoring, in my opinion, were two out of two. The next two games (against Mexico and Poland), however, will require us to bounce back from defeat, and we will do our best to follow the example of Spain 2010, a champion that dropped its opening match. And we needn't take any further action. Although today is depressing,

England begins the World Cup looking stunning as it is aware of the weight of expectations.