Argentina came into the 2022 World Cup as one of the favorites. It had not lost in 36 games, one shy of the men’s international record. This was supposed to be Lionel Messi’s World Cup, the moment when, at the very last, he would win the one tournament that has continued to elude him. He has been in form for Paris Saint-Germain. He finally has a balanced team in which to play, one that offers him a platform and accentuates his virtues. The Copa América success last year finally broke the Argentina trophy drought that stretched back to 1993.
The doubt had been, though, that in that 36-game run, Argentina had played only three UEFA sides and one of them was Estonia (currently 109th in the world). Would it be as effective against the physicality and pressing of a top European side? That test is still to come—but it couldn’t even handle Saudi Arabia. Winning the World Cup suddenly looks a very long way off after the 2–1 defeat, while even getting out of the group, which features Mexico and Poland sides now having considerably different outlooks, will take an almighty effort.
This was one of the great World Cup shocks, up there with Senegal beating France in 2002, Algeria beating West Germany in 1982 and the USA beating England in 1950. This was only Saudi Arabia’s fourth win in 17 World Cup matches. The winner from Salem Al-Dawsari will probably eclipse even Saeed Al-Owairan’s 50-yard dribble against Belgium in 1994 as the most famous goal in Saudi history. After the miserable performances from Qatar and Iran on the first two days of the tournament, there was a sense that the first West Asian World Cup needed this.
