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 scored a penalty inside ten minutes but a fight-back from Saudi Arabia was sealed with excellent goals from Saleh Al-Shehri and Salem Al-Dawsari after the break.
Messi’s first sight of goal came inside two minutes as he ran on to a loose ball but just couldn’t bend his effort away from Saudi stopper Mohammed Al Owais.
Their fast start continues as VAR chimed in to award Argentina a penalty in the eighth minute as Saud Abdulhamid was seen pulling Leandro Paredes’ shirt, and up stepped Messi to open the scoring with a composed finish from 12 yards.
Saudi Arabia responded well, however, with their high press causing plenty of problems for Argentina as Lionel Scaloni’s men retained possession but didn’t always look comfortable doing so.
The Saudi high line created plenty of space in behind and Messi looked to have exploited that when he finished off a one-on-one 22 minutes in, only for the offside flag to correctly rule it out. Lautaro Martinez had the ball in the back of the net twice in the next ten minutes but both efforts met the same fate.
Despite Argentina having the ball in the back of the net four times in the first half, they were only 1-0 up at the break, with Saudi Arabia still very much in the game.
That profligacy was punished as Saleh Al-Shehri beat Cristian Romero for pace and arrowed a great strike across the goal and into the bottom corner.
Eight minutes into the second half, Argentina were behind as Salem Al-Dawsari curled a glorious effort from the edge of the penalty area into the top corner. A truly sensational strike.
A sensational challenge from Hassan Altambakti prevented Messi from tapping home an equaliser, before Nicolas Tagliafico failed to convert from around two yards as Al Owais pulled off a superb save to keep his side ahead.
Argentina’s search for a second goal came through constant crosses into the box but they rarely posed any real threat, aside from a soft Messi header which was gleefully collected by the goalkeeper.
Julian Alvarez saw an effort hooked away off the line in stoppage time as Argentina desperately tried to claw their way back into the game, but they just couldn’t find another way through the sensational Saudi defence.
The game ended on a sour note as Yasir Al Shahrani was caught by the knee of his goalkeeper in a desperate…
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