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Saudi Arabia Stuns Messi, Argentina With Comeback Win at World Cup

Saleh Al-Shehri and Salem Al-Dawsari scored just five minutes apart to overcome an early Lionel Messi goal in a massive World Cup upset.

Andrew Gastelum

If this is Lionel Messi’s last World Cup, it’s off to a nightmare start. 

Saudi Arabia—ranked 51st in the world—earned its biggest win ever by stunning one of the World Cup favorites in a comeback 2–1 win at Lusail Iconic Stadium, the site of the World Cup final. 

The upset will go down as one of the greatest in World Cup history—and ends Argentina’s 36-game winning streak just one shy of Italy’s all-time record. Now, Argentina must get results from tough games against Mexico and Poland if it hopes to advance. However, there was little sign in the first half of Saudi Arabia achieving such an incredible result. 

Messi opened the scoring in the 10th minute by converting a penalty—his seventh World Cup goal—that was awarded by a VAR review, but Argentina saw three potential goals in the first half called for offside. Less than 10 minutes into the second half, Saudi Arabia had turned the tables on La Albiceleste with two goals in five minutes to take the lead. 

With its veteran-backed side, Argentina became the first side in World Cup history to start four players aged 34 or over, while Messi became the fourth men’s player to make five World Cup appearances. That experience showed to start the match with Argentina dominant throughout the first half.

Less than two minutes into the match, Messi nearly put Argentina on the board. After a chance into the box fell to Messi, the PSG star curled a low shot that seemed destined for the corner until Saudi Arabia keeper Mohammed Al-Owais made an excellent save. 

In the eighth minute, a VAR review awarded a penalty to Argentina after Leandro Paredes was brought down during a corner. Messi then stepped to the spot and easily slotted the ball into the bottom corner for the goal. 

In the 23rd minute, Messi appeared to have a second goal after perfect ball was played over the top of the Saudi Arabian defense. But as Messi sent the ball into the net, the flag was raised as it appeared that Messi was just a step offside. 

La Albiceleste seemed to double their lead once again just minutes later when Lautaro Martínez chipped the keeper, but a VAR review ruled that the Inter Milan star was offside. 

After seeming to score another Argentina goal, Martínez was called offside once again in the 35th minute, although his footwork to avoid the keeper was stunning.

Just before halftime, Saudi Arabia was dealt a serious blow when captain Salman Al-Faraj was subbed off with an injury. 

Less than three minutes into the second half, Saudi Arabia scored an equalizer courtesy of Saleh Al-Shehri. The Saudi Arabian forward was played in with a through ball inside the left wing, sprinted past the Argentina defense and sent a bouncing shot through the legs of his defender and into the back of the net to draw level.

Five minutes later, Saudi Arabia took a stunning lead thanks to an incredible effort from Salem Al-Dawsari. After the ball dropped to Al-Dawsari, the winger danced around a flurry of defenders before launching an incredible shot past Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez.

As Argentina frantically looked to strike back, the Saudi Arabian keeper kept the underdogs steady, especially in the 63rd with a massive save on a Martínez shot and inthe  75th minute when Al-Owais rushed out of the box for a sliding challenge to clear a chance that would have sent Argentina through on goal. 

Argentina was awarded a free kick in a dangerous position from just outside the penalty area in the 79th minute, but Messi sent his effort well over the goal. 

Saudi Arabia held on, and Argentina’s best chance of the second half was stopped just short when Julián Álvarez’s shot cleared off the line in the 92nd minute. 

After surviving more than 10 minutes of stoppage time, including a brutal collision that sent defender Yasser Al-Shahrani off on a stretcher, Saudi Arabia erupted into a massive celebration on the pitch after clinching the upset. 

On Saturday, Argentina will face Mexico while Saudi Arabia will take on Poland in the second game with massive implications on a group thrown into chaos in its very first game. 

Here were the lineups for both teams:

Full World Cup Squads

Argentina

GOALKEEPERS: Franco Armani (River Plate), Emi Martínez (Aston Villa), Gerónimo Rulli (Villarreal)

DEFENDERS: Marcos Acuña (Sevilla), Juan Foyth (Villarreal), Lisandro Martínez (Manchester United), Nahuel Molina (Atlético Madrid), Gonzalo Montiel (Sevilla), Nicolás Otamendi (Benfica), Germán Pezzella (Real Betis), Cristian Romero (Tottenham), Nicolás Tagliafico (Lyon)

MIDFIELDERS: Rodrigo De Paul (Atlético Madrid), Enzo Fernández (Benfica), Alejandro Gómez (Sevilla), Alexis Mac Allister (Brighton), Exequiel Palacios (Bayer Leverkusen), Leandro Paredes (Juventus), Guido Rodriguez (Real Betis)

FORWARDS: Thiago Almada (Atlanta United), Julián Álvarez (Manchester City), Ángel Correa (Atlético Madrid), Paulo Dybala (Roma), Ángel Di María (Juventus), Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan), Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain) 

COACH: Lionel Scaloni

Saudi Arabia

GOALKEEPERS: Nawaf Al-Aqidi (Al-Nassr), Mohamed Al-Owais (Al-Hilal), Mohamed Al-Yami (Al-Ahly)

DEFENDERS: Saud Abdulhamid (Al-Hilal), Abdulelah Al-Amri (Al-Nassr), Mohammed Al-Breik (Al-Hilal), Ali Al-Bulaihi (Al-Hilal), Sultan Al-Ghanam (Al-Nassr), Yasser Al-Shahrani (Al-Hilal), Abdullah Madu (Al-Nassr), Hassan Tambakti (Al-Shabab)

MIDFIELDERS: Abdulrahman Al-Aboud (Ittihad), Nasser Al-Dawsari (Al-Hilal), Salem Al-Dawsari (Al-Hilal), Salman Al-Faraj (Al-Hilal), Ali Al-Hassan (Al-Nassr), Abdulelah Al-Malki (Al-Hilal), Sami Al-Najei (Al-Nassr), Hattan Bahebri (Al-Shabab), Mohamed Kanno (Al-Hilal), Abdullah Otayf (Al-Hilal), Riyadh Sharahili (Abha)

FORWARDS: Nawaf Al-Abed (Al-Shabab), Firas Al-Buraikan (Al-Fateh), Saleh Al-Shehri (Al-Hilal), Haitham Asiri (Al-Ahly) 

COACH: Hervé Renard

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Andrew Gastelum
ANDREW GASTELUM

Andrew Gastelum is an editor and writer at Sports Illustrated who specializes in soccer, the Olympics and international sports. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and lives in Italy.

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