Saudis Stun Soccer World by Defeating Argentina 2–1

Champions France win opening game

Saudi players celebrate their second goal (Manny Otiko)

Yes, it happened. In the first round of the 2022 World Cup Saudi Arabia defeated favorites Argentina 2–1. The result ended a 36-game unbeaten streak. The game came on at 2 a.m. in California. I tried to stay up to watch it live, but opted to set my DVR to record it. So, I woke up in the wee hours of the morning to watch a moment in soccer history.

The game started as expected. Lionel Messi, widely regarded as one of the best players to ever kick a ball, slotted in a penalty to put Argentina 1–0 up. And you thought the game would go onto be a huge defeat for the Saudis. (I predicted it was going to be 4–1 to Argentina.)

But that’s when strange events began to occur. The Argentinians, a team chock full of professionals who play in the top European leagues, had three goals disallowed for offside calls in about 30 minutes.

'Seismic' for Saudi Arabia but don't count Messi out

The refereeing in this tournament has been terrible, but some of Tuesday’s decisions were questionable. One player was ruled offside because his…