Group C favorites Argentina were defeated 2-1 by underdogs Saudi Arabia in what was both teams’ opening game in the 2022 World Cup. In addition to Argentina being one of the tournament favorites, many pundits also expect team talisman Lionel Messi to take Argentina the distance in what is expected to be his final World Cup.
During the first half, the game appeared to be going to script as the South American giants dominated the Saudis throughout the opening proceedings. Argentina opened the scoring in the 10th minute of the game as Lionel Messi slotted away a penalty. Messi appeared to have doubled Argentina’s lead in the 22nd minute, only to be ruled offside.
Seven minutes later, it was Lautaro Martinez who appeared to get his name on the scoresheet, only for VAR to rule him offside as well as he appeared to make his run a little too early.
In the 34th minute, the Argentinians had a goal ruled offside for a third time, meaning that they had officially become the team with the most offside in the first half of a game in World Cup history.
While the Saudis appeared to be shaken up going into the half-time break, they shocked the entire Lusail Stadium by emerging as frontrunners in the second half. Saleh Alshehri grabbed a surprise goal just three minutes after kick-off, while Salem Aldawsari fired home a long-range stunner to grab an unlikely lead for the Gulf Arab state.
