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DOHA, Qatar — Lionel Messi and Argentina ended one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history with Saudi Arabia scoring her monumental 2-1 draw at Lusail Stadium on Tuesday.
After leading his side in a first-half penalty in what was expected to be the easiest matchup in Group C, he was helpless to prevent a surprise Saudi uprising that put Argentina in a precarious position after just one match. I couldn't
In the 48th minute, Saleem Al Dawsari equalized with a small try against the flow of play before Salem Al Dawsari delivered a spectacular right-footed shot from the edge of the box before diving into the Argentinean net.
Since then, Argentina desperately tried to level again.
Defending his 36-match unbeaten streak, which included winning his edition of the 2021 Copa America, Messi and company launched wave after wave of attacks, to no avail. Saudi goalkeeper Mohammad Al-Owais was at times steady and at times exhilarating with his acrobatic saves and mastery of clearing problems with dashes from the box.
During stoppage time, the crowd was momentarily silent as the goalkeeper was caught in a terrifying moment. Al Owais rushed off the line to clear the ball and his knee slammed into the jaw of team-mate Yasir Al-Shahrani with shocking force, leading to minutes of medical attention and Al-Shahrani's substitute.
Before time expired, Abdulella his al his Amri missed his one line with a header and Al Owais jumped and scored Julien his Alvarez header to seal the shocking result.
Messi did the best he could, and though it seemed that way at first, it wasn't his day. The little maestro fired home a penalty in the 10th minute as Argentina fully dominated early on. Before the end of the first half, Argentina by hi one point, and his other three were ruled out for offside.
But all that changed during the intermission, and so did Group C's face.
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Despite his career being considered one of the top two players of his generation alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi has never won the game's biggest international award in his home country. For the 35-year-old, this year may be his last chance. it's not over. Argentina will have a chance to rebound when they face Mexico at the same venue on Saturday (2pm ET on FS1 and the FOX Sports app). They will face Poland in the final group match. However, his margin of errorazor-thinazor thin.
Given that the country borders Qatar and was attended by a large number of his Saudi fans, perhaps the Saudi appearance was his first regional advantage at this World Cup. Perhaps it was evidence that the gap between football's global elite and those who wanted to reach that level was closing. Does it come down as the biggest surprise of all? Saudi Arabia is Diego just 51st in the world rankings, but dominated the Asian qualifying rounds and finished in the group despite merging with regional heavyweights Japan and Australia. I took first place.
Indeed, it can be argued that Senegal's reigning champions' victory over France in 2002, or Diego's Maradona's big Cameroon hit against Argentina in 1990, was even more surprising. or not.
Do not worry This was a shocker, with some hits, and the story of whether Argentina and Messi can get out of this hole will be followed closely from that point onwards.
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