Saudi Arabia made one of the biggest World Cup surprises in football history, defeated Argentina 2-1 despite being ranked 51st in the world.
Lionel Messi opened the scoring for La Albiceleste in the tenth minute with a penalty given after Leandro Paredes was dragged to the floor following a corner kick.
Argentina had THREE goals disallowed in the initial half while playing against a tremendously high line. Messi had one disallowed before Lautaro Martinez had a pair of efforts ruled out.
Herve Renard's team played the game extremely fast, and they levelled against the flow of play shortly after the resumption.
The Green Falcons have turned it around!! 👀
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) November 22, 2022
Saudi Arabia come out firing at the start of the second half with this equaliser against Argentina... ⚡️#ITVFootball | #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/xvOVyBxaXW
Saleh Al-Shehri completely outplayed Cristian Romero and defeated Emiliano Martinez with a left-footed effort that went over the goalie.
The celebrations at Lusail Stadium were stunning, but only 5 minutes later, Salem Al-Dawsari cut in from the left wing and curled a shot into the far corner to finish a miraculous turnaround.
Martinez got a hand to it but could not really stop the strike, and Al-Dawsari celebrated by doing a backflip in front of the enthusiastic Saudi fans.
Argentina had the opportunity to go a record 37 games undefeated, but the run was abruptly stopped in the Group C opener.
Argentina has not lost a match since losing to Brazil in the Copa America semi-finals in 2019.
Whatever Hervé Renard said to his players at half-time, it worked!! 🤩@SaudiNT_EN have gone 2-1 up against one of the competition favourites Argentina with this belter!! 🚀#ITVFootball | #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/uHdXpjUAdm
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) November 22, 2022
Lionel Scaloni made substitutions in an attempt to rescue the game, however Saudi Arabia, who finished ahead of Japan in qualifying, gave everything they had and provided a flurry of heroic blocks.
Although more than Thirteen minutes of extra time was played to meet the new FIFA standards, the Green Falcons held on for their greatest success achieved in only their 17th World Cup game.
Featured Image Credit: Alamy