Argentina shocked by Saudi Arabia; France thrash Australia; Lewandowski woe

Day three of the 2022 World Cup is in the books and it is one that will likely never be forgotten.

While the world settled down to watch what we all presumed would be Argentina comfortably steamrollering Saudi Arabia, what we got instead was arguably the biggest shock in World Cup history.

The defending champions France had no such worries, although they did have to come back from a goal down to get their title defence off to a winning start.

Lionel Messi and the rest of the top Argentina stars could at least console themselves that they were not the only big names to have a shocker. Robert Lewandowski had a rough one too as Poland locked horns with Mexico.

For fans of VAR drama, Denmark and Tunisia served up a bit of a treat.

Here is how day three of the World Cup went.

Pre-tournament favourites Argentina endured the worst possible start to their World Cup campaign as their 36-game unbeaten run came to an end with a deserved 2-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia.

Lionel Messi’s penalty inside the first ten minutes looked to have sent Argentina on their way, particularly when they then had three goals ruled out for offside before half-time.

But Argentina were stunned after the interval as Saleh Al-Shehri and Salem Al-Dawsari bagged two quickfire goals for Saudi Arabia after the break, and it was a lead they would not relinquish.

How did Argentina slip to defeat?

Argentina were cruising at half-time and could conceivably have been 4-0 ahead had Messi and Lautaro Martinez not wandered into offside positions before scoring their goals.

They were the dominant force on the ball, had all the territory and Saudi Arabia were playing a dangerously high defensive line that was asking for trouble.

But whatever Herve Renard said to his Saudi Arabia players at the break completely changed the dynamic of the game, and they looked like a completely different side. In contrast, Argentina showed some of their old defensive fragility and the problems that have dogged them at this famous old tournament in years gone by reared their ugly heads once more.

Saleh Al-Shehri’s equaliser was smartly taken, firing past Emi Martinez from an angle, but it was a real moment of class from Salem Al-Dawsari that handed Saudi Arabia the lead. He plucked the ball out of the sky, spun away from two Argentina defenders, jinked past another…