Pre-tournament favourites Argentina suffered a shocking 1-2 defeat against Saudi Arabia in their FIFA World Cup 2022 Group C opener at the Lusail Iconic Stadium on Tuesday (November 22). In that game, Argentina took a lead in the 10th minute of the game when Messi converted from the spot. But what happened afterwards was more of a shock than a surprise for everybody. Saudi Arabia made a superb comeback from a goal down after the break and managed to go 2-1 up. And after taking the shock lead, they defended really well to protect it and keep Argentina at bay.
The defeat in their tournament opener has now put Argentina on the brink of early elimination from the FIFA World Cup 2022. Argentina’s second game is against Mexico on Saturday (Sunday IST), and if they lose this game as well, then they will get knocked out of the FIFA World Cup. Because a loss would leave them with 0 points from two games, whereas their opponent on Saturday, Mexico, would have 4 points.
The other two teams in Group C are Poland and Saudi Arabia, and they will be up against each other in their second Group C match at 6:30 p.m. IST on Saturday. With a win over Argentina, the Saudis have three points, and if they win on Saturday, they will reach a total of six, which will confirm their place in the Round of 16. And if they lose, then their fate will depend on the result of their final game against Mexico. In the event of a draw, they will reach four points.
If Poland wins, they will go to the top of the table with four points, whereas a defeat or a draw will make their path more difficult.
The talking point here is that if either Poland or Saudi Arabia win on Saturday and Argentina loses against Mexico, then Argentina will get knocked out because, in that scenario, they will not be able to match the points tally of the top two teams in the group.
A win for Saudi Arabia, Poland, or Mexico will take them to 6, 4, and 4 points, respectively, and Argentina can only reach a total of three.
So, to avoid the embarrassment of getting knocked out early, Argentina would need nothing less than a win.
