LUSAIL, Qatar — Saudi Arabia pulled off one of the biggest World Cup shocks ever to come from behind to beat Argentina on Tuesday.
Argentina, one of the favourites to lift the trophy, dominated the first half and went ahead through Lionel Messi‘s first half penalty. But a stunning fight back from Saudi Arabia after the break saw Saleh Al-Shehri and Salem Al-Dawsari both score in the space of five minutes to leave Argentina defeated for the first time since June 2019 — a run of 36 incredible matches.
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Rapid reaction
1. Saudi Arabia cause one of the biggest shocks ever
Argentina don’t start World Cups well but this was a stunning upset even for them. Saudi Arabia, ranked 51st in the world (between Qatar and Greece), scored twice in five chaotic minutes early in the second half to record one of the competition’s biggest ever shocks — similar to Cameroon beating Diego Maradona’s reigning champions in 1990.
Saudi Arabia were barely in the game during a first 45 minutes which was dominated by Argentina and headed off the field at half-time looking like a team clinging on for dear life. But goals from Saleh Al-Shehri and Salem Al-Dawsari — a right-foot effort which flew into the top corner and an early contender of goal of the tournament — capped a remarkable turnaround.
And when the impetus was on Argentina and captain Lionel Messi to find a comeback, they lacked composure and precision in front of goal.
Argentina will cling to the fact that after losing to Cameroon in their opening game of the 1990 World Cup they still managed to reach the final but, after arriving in Qatar as reigning South American champions and on the back of a 36-match unbeaten run, this campaign was meant to be different. Just as they did at Russia 2018, it looks like they are again going to make hard work of the group stage.
