Qatar 2022: Saudi Arabia stuns Argentina in 2-1 victory

Saudi Arabia beat Argentina to record one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history with a 2-1 win over Lionel Messi’s side.

On his fifth and final quest for the only major trophy to elude him, the 35-year-old Messi scored a 10th-minute penalty in a dominant first-half display where he and Lautaro Martinez also had three goals disallowed for offside.

But Saudi Arabia, the second-lowest ranked team in the tournament after Ghana, threw caution to the wind at the start of the second half, charging at Argentina’s defence in front of a frenzied 88,012 crowd.

Saleh Al-Shehri squeezed in a low shot in the 48th minute while Salem Al-Dawsari curled in a scorching strike from the edge of the penalty area in the 53rd minute to leave Argentina and Messi looking utterly shell-shocked in the Group C opener.

Despite plenty of possession after that, Argentina was unable to best Saudi Arabia, who were competing in their sixth World Cup but had never previously won an opening game.