There is a terrible World Cup story, and this time it involves football. It began with Lionel Messi setting another record for Argentina and concluded with the superstar staring dejectedly into the distance after Saudi Arabia interrupted the Copa América champions’ unbeaten streak of 36 games.
Moments after Saleh al-Shehri had equalized Messi’s early penalty, Salem al-stunning Dawsari’s goal gave Saudi Arabia a victory that had the Lusail Stadium buzzing with audible incredulity long after the final whistle.
After eight long minutes of stoppage time, the Saudi Arabia bench rushed onto the field when Slovenian referee Slavko Vincic finally brought an end to their suffering. Captain Salman al-Faraj, who has carried off the field in the first half with an injury, returned on crutches to join the frenzied celebrations.
As evidenced by the expressions of Argentina’s players and fans, the winners were not the only ones straining to fathom the significance of their accomplishments. One of the favorites is in grave danger.
The 18th World Cup was Argentina’s first since Diego Maradona’s death over two years ago. Messi, Maradona’s successor in the No. 10 shirt, stated, “It’s strange not to see him in the stands or to see the crowd go wild when he comes.” “He was a fan of the national team.
He has always been with us and always will be; he was everywhere at the big Lusail Stadium. The No. 10 jersey, with either Diego Maradona or Lionel Messi printed above, dominated the fans that finally brought a party to the World Cup before Argentina’s opening match. Many of the flags and banners inside the 88,966-seat venue that will host the final on 18 December featured Maradona’s likeness.
It is Messi’s and Argentina’s fervent hope that he will be present for one more opportunity to add the crowning glory to his spectacular career. The objective is already at risk after a display of escalating desperation.
The team of Lionel Scaloni displayed positive determination from the opening whistle. Messi, sneaking into the penalty area after receiving a pass from Lautaro Martnez, pushed Mohammed al-Owais into a fine low save 96 seconds into the match, nearly giving the Argentinian fans the perfect start. They did not need to wait much longer for the desired moment.
Vincic abruptly stopped play after the Saudi Arabia goalkeeper pushed away a Messi free kick. As he raced to the pitch-side monitor to witness a video of Saud Abdulhamid wrestling Leandro Parades to the ground in the corner moments earlier, Saudi hearts sank.
It was a penalty determined by the VAR. Messi moved up to the penalty spot, waited for Owais to move to the left, and then calmly rolled a penalty shot to the goalkeeper’s right.
Messi, therefore, became the first player from Argentina to score at four World Cup tournaments, 2006, 2014, 2018, and 2022, and the fifth man in history to accomplish the accomplishment.
The screenplay was writing itself, but Saudi Arabia steadily, fiercely, and impressively tore it up. The squad of Hervé Renard was supported by a noisy crowd of their own, and their swift response to falling behind showed that they possessed the energy, organization, and daring to disturb their esteemed opponents. However, their dedication to a high defensive line was a high-risk plan that almost played into the hands of Argentina.
In the first 13 minutes of the match, Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside. Messi was off when Alejandro Gómez played him through and he beat Owais with a controlled finish.
Martnez was also offside as he rounded the Saudi Arabia goalkeeper and converted Messi’s through the ball while he was offside. However, the Internazionale attacker was incredibly unfortunate for his first and Argentina’s second offside goal.
VAR replays revealed that Martnez’s shoulder was just ahead of Abdulhamid as he ran onto Rodrigo De Paul’s pass that split the defense. However, the left-back Yasser al-Shahrani appeared to be passing the ball to Martnez, and he did not appear in the VAR replay displayed to the fans.
Scaloni’s team dominated the first half, but with De Paul missing a fantastic opportunity, ngel Di Mara failing to finish at the far post, and Abdulhamid preventing Messi with a fine tackle inside the penalty area, Saudi Arabia entered halftime with hope, if not their injured captain Faraj.
Within eight minutes of the restart, they reemerged as an unrecognizable attacking force and turned the game, Argentina, and Group C on its head.
When Firas al-Buraikan deflected a ball out of the middle into the path of Shehri, the 51st-ranked side in the world — one below Qatar, how unusual – quickly equalized. The striker, one of nine Saudi starters who play for Al Hilal, advanced past Cristian Romero on the left before beating Emiliano Martnez with a pinpoint, clinical shot that sneaked inside the far post. The Saudi Arabia supporter base descended into chaos. And their festivities had only barely begun.
Saudi Arabia pushed forward against an Argentina side that was visibly unsettled and struck again five minutes later. It was a goal worthy of the World Cup, Messi’s foot, but it was scored by Dawsari with his right foot.
Romero blocked a shot by Faraj’s replacement, Nawaf al-Abid, that was destined for the goal. Dawsari pursued the ball carrier and recovered possession on the opposite side of the penalty area.
Before De Paul could close him down, he sent a fantastic right-footed shot past Martnez and into the top corner, evading two feeble Argentinian challenges and cutting through Parades’ desperate attempt. It is possible that Riyadh trembled from the reverberations of their traveling fans.
Despite having more than 40 minutes remaining on the first day of play, Argentina’s attempts to prevent a humiliating loss on day one were motivated by desperation.
Hassan al-Tambakti denied Lionel Messi a third goal with a spectacular challenge as the No. 10 sprinted into the penalty area and celebrated as if he had scored. The substitute Abdulelah al-Amri committed the same infraction as Julián lvarez, who was nonetheless penalized for an infraction.
Owais completed the remaining tasks. The Al Hilal goalkeeper denied Nicolás Tagliafico from close range, commanded his area by whatever means necessary, and threw his fans into ecstasy when he blocked a lvarez header late in stoppage time.
