The FIFA World Cup 2022 has been an exhilarating affair so far as fans have got to see several upsets in the tournament. Amid all the upsets, the most talked about has been Argentina’s defeat against Saudi Arabia. The two champions and the world no three ranked team led by legend Lionel Messi were beaten by the 51st-ranked team at the Lusail Stadium by 2-1. Saudi Arabia’s performance impressed Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, who has announced a luxurious award for the entire team.
Following their win, all 26 members of the Saudi squad will be gifted a Rolls-Royce Phantom. So far, it’s unknown which model they’ll be getting, but basic models of the Rolls-Royce Phantom cost around £363,600. In 1994, Saeed Al-Owairan received a Rolls-Royce after scoring against Belgium at the World Cup.
Al-Owairan lit the competition up, with his strike in the United States eventually being voted the sixth-best in FIFA’s Goal of the Century rankings.
Coming back to the match, Lionel Messi scored a penalty after 10 minutes to give Argentina a deserved lead. Argentina further had three goals ruled out for offside in the first half as the Saudi high line started to falter.
However, the momentum shifted in the second half. Saleh Al-Shehri scored an equaliser just after the break after managing to get past Cristian Romero. Salem Al-Dawsari cut inside five minutes later to unleash an incredible effort that proved to be too much for Emiliano Martinez to handle.
Argentina couldn’t find an equaliser, with second-half substitute Julian Alvarez’s header likely their best effort. Messi, who previously revealed this would be his final World Cup as a player, admitted his side ‘messed up’ in key moments.
“In five minutes of errors, we lost the lead and found ourselves 1-2 down. We messed up, we threw crosses into the box and the game became a little complicated.”
The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner refused to use the offside calls as an excuse.
He continued: “I saw that the offsides were very fair. I didn’t see them through images, but if they were annulled, they would be the right decisions. There is no excuse.”
Argentina are bottom of Group C and will face Mexico in a huge clash on Saturday evening.
