Saudi Arabia defeated Lionel Messi’s Argentina in one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history.
Lionel Messi’s ambitions of ultimately winning the World Cup in his fourth attempt were dashed on Tuesday in Group C Saudi Arabia shocked everyone by defeating Argentina 2-1. Argentina suffered a humiliating loss to the Saudi underdog team result of having a total of three goals disallowed in the game due to the offside rule.
Within five minutes of the game’s beginning, the first goal was ruled out. Few expected the lead to be overcome after Messi, Argentina’s all-time leading scorer, converted a penalty in the 10th minute.
Argentina had two more goals disallowed for offside, but Saudi Arabia, the second-lowest-ranked team in the competition, equalized through attacker Saleh Alshehri. Salem Aldawsari added a special second for the Saudis shortly after Alshehri’s plan by slamming the ball into the top corner from the border of the Argentina site. The winning strike resulted in a historic victory for Saudi Arabia and a crushing defeat for Argentina.
Argentina entered the World Cup with a 35-game winning streak, dating back to July 2019 and included the Copa America championship in 2021. The South American team was considered one of the tournament favourites due to its strong performance.
With 12 goals and 14 assists in just 19 matches for club team Paris Saint-Germain this season, star player Messi has been in great form, fueling hopes that this could finally be his and Argentina’s year.
Messi has three chances to win the World Cup for Argentina but has finally to do so. In 2014, when his team lost to Germany in the final, he came the most immediate. The Middle East team finally outran and outfought Lionel Scaloni’s underwhelming Argentina, despite the reality that everything seemed to be off to a perfect start against Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
Olé, an Argentine serial, named the outcome “a horror.” “One of them that will leave a mark for a long time,” was said of it. “Because the result doesn’t matter all that much what matters is the lack of a reply” Analysts Nielsen’s Gracenote named it the biggest World Cup upset ever.
According to Gracenote, the USA’s win over England in 1950 with a 9.5% likelihood of winning for the USMNT was the most unexpected World Cup victory until the 2022 tournament. The likelihood of Saudi Arabia defeating Argentina was put at 8.7%.
To commemorate its World Cup victory against Argentina, Saudi Arabia proclaims a public holiday.
Saudi Arabia has declared Wednesday to be a national holiday, its historic 2-1 World Cup victory over Lionel Messi’s Argentina was obeyed, coming of age on the Jeddah Corniche on the Red Sea, in the centre of the capital Riyadh, and towns and villages all over the country.
The surprising success of the national football team has been considered a success on the field, in the affair of the international sports arena, where the regional power has long yearned for a position in the spotlight. On Tuesday afternoon, it was all that mattered to Saudi leaders and the supporters who circled public yards in convoys of cars waving the country’s green flag and heralding a new era of international football.
The outsiders against an Argentine team on a 36-match winning streak undoubtedly delivered that. The government declared a public holiday on Tuesday for all form workers, “the private sector, and male and female students in all educational stages.”
“We are overjoyed with the outcome. According to Ghassan Alwan, 42, marketing director at the Saudi Ministry of Housing, “It was an amazing match from our falcons.” “Our faith in our guys was well-placed. Tonight, history was written.
Another sports editor, Abdulrahman Abed, added, “Incredible, gigantic, incredible, fantastic.” “All of you deserve congratulations. To every Saudi, this is highly important. This will greatly benefit every Arabic World Cup squad.
Happiness spread to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s close circle, seen in images of him hugging his brothers after the final whistle, to sports cafes and public parks all around the country.
Universities granted students the day off so they could watch the game. The streets of the city were nearly abandoned. Women joined men at multiple cafés and restaurants to celebrate the most improbable of victories, which was a novel phenomenon in the desert kingdom.
Adel Al-Akeley, a doctor in Riyadh, said, “What a tremendous win for the Saudi national team. “With a string of recent victories and a continuous will to move forward, our country has undergone an influential change. Moments like this show a constant reminder of how proud we are of our kids and assist to concretize their improvements.
Many sports enthusiasts insisted that they too wanted to compete internationally and enter their national teams into the mix, and Saudis have long bristled at the idea that their love of sports and desire to host international events amounted to image washing.
Prince Mohammed insisted the national team “be calm, play your game, and do your thing” last to the game. However, few thought that this was just another game. This was a time of nation-building, an option to change the political tide in a country pummeled by criticism over human rights and geopolitical positions.
After the game was over, Saudi rivals celebrated their victory. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the king of Dubai, tweeted his greetings. While this was going on, Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, briefly covered himself in the Saudi flag, putting an end to five years of hostility in the run-up to the World Cup, which Prince Mohammed had boycotted and severed ties with Qatar.
That debate is now officially ended, and the Saudi victory was everywhere the Arab world could rally around. Nevertheless, the response is limited in South America. When the final horn sounded in Qatar, which is located about 14,000 kilometres away, Argentina was in shock and misery.
Argentina’s players received “a historic walloping,” according to the daily Clarn, after becoming “entangled in Saudi Arabia’s spider’s trap.” Olé remarked, “Incredible,” next to an image of Lionel Messi holding his face with his hands.
The outcome said a “hammer strike that will leave a long-lasting mark” by football writer Diego Macias.
According to Macias, “Argentina lost much more than a game by Saudi Arabia.” “It forgot its footballing fundamentals in the locker room and had the worst start to the World Cup.”
Fans in the neighbouring country of Brazil celebrated the poor performance of their bitter football opponent. On social media, a modified version of Argentina’s triband flag went popular, with the yellow sun in the middle sobbing uncontrollably. Football judge Luis Felipe Freitas tweeted, “What an embarrassment, Argentina.”
Argentina was dubbed the first “zebra” in the World Cup by Brazilian newspapers, a Portuguese idiom that roughly translates to “unfathomable upset.” The O Globo newspaper in Rio said that “pigs soared.”Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters in Brazil blamed the failure on Argentina’s socialist leaders.
The congressman and broadcaster Bibo Nunes tweeted, “Socialism in Argentina has shattered the behaviour of its citizens to such a bit that they lost to Saudi Arabia in the cup.”
edited and proofread by nikita sharma
