ARGENTINA FACED ENORMOUS SHOCK AFTER LOSING TO SAUDI ARABIA BY 1-2.

Argentine's World Cup campaign began with the worst possible start as their 36-game unbeaten streak came to an end with a 2-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia. In Group C, Saudi Arabia produced one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history in scoring a 2-1 victory over Argentina at the Lusail Iconic Stadium thanks to Salem Al-Dawsari's impressive solo effort.

Following a contentious VAR decision (10), Lionel Messi gave one of the pre-tournament favorites the lead from the penalty spot. However, Saleh Al-Shehri leveled the score just three minutes into the second period to set up an almighty upset. It was the greatest day in the history of Saudi Arabian football as it ended Argentina's 36-game unbeaten streak, which dates back to a defeat against Brazil three years ago. Messi's strike partner Lautaro Martinez stated, "We dreamed of starting the World Cup with a victory." However, it has come to pass, and now we must train and move forward. "

After losing the opening group game of the 1990 World Cup against Cameroon, Argentina went on to reach the final where they lost to Germany. However, despite the fact that they went on to reach the final in 1990, the loss to the nation that ranked 51st in world football will not be of much comfort to South Americans at the moment.

In the first half, Saudi Arabia failed to have a single shot and has a history of low strike rates in front of the goal. In the ten instances since 1966 in which a team failed to attempt a shot in the first half, Saudi Arabia has achieved that unwanted blank on three occasions - making what occurred against Argentina all the more remarkable. The Saudis were fired up like never before by their coach Herve Renard, who was dismissed by Cambridge United in 2004. "Renard motivated us before the match and increased our motivation during half-time," he said, affectionately referring to him as "crazy."

There was an extraordinary atmosphere at the Lusail Stadium, with Argentina's traditionally huge and raucous following matched by thousands of Saudi fans who came over the border to watch their team. After 10 minutes, Slavko Vinci awarded Argentina a penalty following a VAR review after Leandro Paredes' shirt was pulled by Saud Abdulhamid. It was Messi's fifth World Cup goal, joining Pelé, Uwe Seeler, Miroslav Klose, and Cristiano Ronaldo in scoring at four different tournaments.

Messi was denied two times by the offside flag in the first half before Lautaro Martinez twice found the back of the net only to be ruled out by VAR. Three minutes after the restart, however, the game turned on its head with Al-Shehri taking advantage of Cristian Romero's hesitation to score a goal. Even though the Saudis were speechless alongside the rest of the world in the stadium, they had barely regained their breath when Al-Dawsari brought the ball down inside the Argentina box, danced around Nahuel Molina and Angel Di Maria, and curled a right-foot shot into the far corner to seal a win against all odds in the match.

The green-clad Saudis were on their feet and cheering every clearance from their defense with a deafening roar as they chanted, "Our team fulfills our dreams!" and "Where is Messi? We beat him!" This result ended Argentina's incredible 36-match undefeated run and prevented them from matching Italy's previous record of 37 unbeaten games. In the aftermath of the match, Messi stated, "We have no choice but to win and win again." According to Messi, "We did not expect our season to begin this way."

Argentinian players were looking forward to winning this tournament, so beating Saudi Arabia always seemed a simple matter of ticking the appropriate box. Two-time World Cup champions will take on Mexico on Saturday, kick-off at 7 p.m., where victory is vital if they are to have any chance of progressing. It is vital that Argentina achieves at least a point in order to avoid jeopardizing its hopes of progressing.

By Rashmi Goel