Saudi Arabia beat Argentina 2-1 to record one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history on Tuesday, 22 November, 2022.
The Arab nation won Lionel Messi’s side thanks to a scintillating second-half comeback.
Argentina had arrived as heavy odds-on favourites to extend an unbeaten run of 36 matches, a sequence that began in November 2019 and had seen them win in a Copa America and inaugural Finalissima in the intervening years, and all seemed as if it would go to plan.
It looked easy for them in those opening 10 minutes, with Messi having his first shot after less than 100 seconds (he should have scored) and converting from the penalty spot when VAR deemed that Leandro Paredes had been wrestled to the floor.
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.
Saudi Arabia had no inclination to attack and didn’t threaten to have a shot on target during the first half; the sole intention of head coach Herve Renard was to try and frustrate Argentina by playing a high-risk, high line defence to catch their vaunted opponents offside.
With the help of VAR and some fractionally mistimed runs, it worked as Messi and Lautauro Martinez (twice) had goals disallowed by the most slender of margins. The way the game flowed, it seemed inevitable that Argentina would spring the trap once and get the buffer they needed.
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.
With the help of VAR and some fractionally mistimed runs, it worked as Messi and Lautauro Martinez (twice) had goals disallowed by the most slender of margins. The way the game flowed, it seemed inevitable that Argentina would spring the trap once and get the buffer they needed.
What followed in the second half was quite extraordinary. The Saudi fans created a tempest, roaring on their team and interspersing it all with chants of ‘Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole!’ – it all proved to be quite inspirational.
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 were unable to best Saudi Arabia, who were competing in their sixth World Cup but had never previously won an opening game.
The question from here was what Argentina could summon in response. History tells you they have been vulnerable when you least expect it at a World Cup, that they can get lost in the emotion, and this was history repeating