By 
Unheralded Saudi Arabia scored one of the biggest World Cup upsets in history on Tuesday, defeating Lionel Messi’s Argentina 2-1 thanks to a thrilling second-half comeback.
On his fifth and final attempt to win the only major trophy he has yet to win, Messi, 35, scored a penalty in the 10th minute of a dominant first half performance in which he and Lautaro Martinez also had three goals disallowed for offside.
However, Saudi Arabia, the tournament’s second-lowest-ranked team after Ghana, threw caution to the wind at the start of the second half, charging at Argentina’s defence in front of a raucous 88,012 crowd.
In the 48th minute, Saleh Al-Shehri fired in a low shot, and in the 53rd minute, Salem Al-Dawsari curled in a scorching strike from the edge of the penalty area, leaving Argentina and Messi stunned.
Despite having plenty of possession after that, Argentina were unable to break down Saudi Arabia, who were competing in their sixth World Cup but had never won the opening game.
The entire game was played in an extraordinary atmosphere at the Lusail Stadium, with Argentina’s traditionally massive and raucous crowd matched by thousands of Saudis who had crossed the border to support their team.
Argentina needs an immediate response if Messi is to have a realistic chance of matching Diego Maradona’s immortality in his homeland by bringing home the World Cup.
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