Mohammed Al Burayk enters the game and replaces Yasir Al Shahrani.
Al Burayk comes on for the injured Al Shahrani in the Saudi Arabia defence.
90' +4
Saudi Arabia are defending a lot deeper in their own half than they previously were as Argentina push forward for a goal.
90' +2
Mohammed Al Owais gets yellow.
Al Owais sees yellow after he is unhappy with the referee's call and shows his anger.
90'
There will be a minimum of eight additional minutes.
89'
Haitham Asiri enters the game and replaces Feras Al Brikan.
Al Brikan makes way for Asiri for the final minutes of this game.
88'
Nawaf Al Abid gets yellow.
Abdulelah Al Amri enters the game and replaces Nawaf Al Abid.
Al Abid comes off the pitch for defender Al Amri.
Al Abid receives a yellow card for taking too long when going off the pitch.
83'
Saudi Arabia are doing very well to break up the play and run the clock down at every opportunity they get.
82'
Saud Abdulhamid gets yellow.
81'
Abdulhamid receives a yellow card for a high challenge on Fernandez.
Minute
Description
79'
Salem Al Dawsari gets yellow.
Al Dawsari goes into the referee's book for dissent.
78'
Sultan Al Ghannam enters the game and replaces Saleh Al Shehri.
Al Ghannam replaces goalscorer Al Shehri as Saudi Arabia look to see the game through.
77'
Alvarez draws a foul in his own half to relieve some of the pressure on his goal.
75'
Ali Al Bulayhi gets yellow.
Al Bulayhi receives a yellow card for taking too long to take a free-kick.
74'
Al Owais does very well to come off his line and beat Martinez to the ball, stopping the striker from having a clear sight of goal.
72'
Di Maria tries to beat Al Owais with his right foot but his effort is tame and the goalkeeper catches the ball on the second attempt.
71'
M. Acuña enters the game and replaces N. Tagliafico.
Acuna replaces Tagliafico at left-back for Argentina.
67'
Abdulelah Al Malki gets yellow.
Al Malki receives the first booking of the game after a reckless challenge.
65'
Saudi Arabia are slowly retreating toward their own goal as Argentina increase the pressure on them.
61'
Both sets of fans in the stadium are creating a lot of noise for their respective teams as they look to push them on for the final 30 minutes.
59'
E. Fernández enters the game and replaces L. Paredes.
Lisandro Martínez enters the game and replaces C. Romero.
J. Álvarez enters the game and replaces P. Gómez.
Martinez replaces Romero in the left centre back role for Argentina.
Fernandez replaces Paredes to add more attacking quality in the Argentina midfield.
Alvarez comes on for Gomez in the Argentina attack.
57'
Argentina are trying to increase the tempo of this game now but Saudi Arabia are doing well to keep up the pace and cause problems for Scaloni's side.
55'
Saudi Arabia are continuing to press high and hold their defensive line close to the centre circle. Argentina are struggling to push forward.
53'
Salem Al Dawsari has scored a goal for Saudi Arabia!
WHAT A GOAL!! SAUDI ARABIA 2-1! AL DAWSARI! Saudi Arabia take the lead through Al Dawsari! He cuts inside onto his right foot and curls it into the far corner. Martinez gets a fingertip to it but cannot keep it out.
50'
The stadium is erupting with noise from the Saudi Arabia fans, who are pushing their team on for another goal!
48'
Saleh Al Shehri has scored a goal for Saudi Arabia! Assist by Feras Al Brikan.
GOALL!! AL SHEHRI! 1-1! Al Shehri equalises for Saudi Arabia! He gets around Romero in the box before scoring across Martinez and into the bottom right corner! Game on!
Al Brikan plays Al Shehri into a good position with a bobbling pass, which ends up helping the striker score.
46'
Martinez gets the second half underway for Argentina!
45' +6
HALF-TIME: ARGENTINA 1-0 SAUDI ARABIA
45' +4
Nawaf Al Abid enters the game and replaces Salman Al Faraj.
Al Faraj can no longer continue due to his injury and Al Abid comes on for him.
45' +2
Argentina are attacking very patiently at the end of this half as they look to double their lead before the break.
45'
There will be a minimum of five additional minutes.
43'
De Paul tries his luck from the edge of the box as the rebound falls to him, but he leans back while shooting and his effort flies into the crowd.
36'
Al Dawsari is visibly frustrated with the referee as he is penalised for a foul on Gomez despite the player thinking the challenge was clean.
32'
Saudi Arabia are beginning to control a bit more of the possession as they get closer to the opposition box. They are also leaving themselves very open for a counter-attack.
30'
Al Faraj takes a corner for Saudi Arabia but they cannot force an attempt at goal from it.
26'
Argentina are controlling the ball well now as Saudi Arabi ease up on their press. They are still however refusing to sit back and let Argentina attack.
24'
The linesman raises his flag for offside again, this time for Di Maria. Argentina are clearly looking to expose Saudi Arabia's high line but the players in green are doing well at the moment.
20'
Molina makes a good overlapping run to get Argentina into the opposing half and around the Saudi Arabia press.
18'
Saudi Arabia are holding a high line when out of possession to avoid the pressure piling on them. Di Maria is trying to exploit this by using his pace to get in behind.
16'
Al Faraj sends a cross to the back post from a free-kick but it comes to nothing and Argentina clear their lines.
14'
Saudi Arabia are reacting well to going a goal behind but are struggling to find the right passes in the final third of the pitch.
12'
Al Shahrani makes a run in behind the Argentina defence on the left wing, but is not fast enough to reach the pass and the ball goes out for a goal kick.
10'
Penalty goal scored by L. Messi for Argentina!
GOALLL!! 1-0 ARGENTINA! MESSI! Messi puts Argentina in the lead from the spot! He waits for Al Owais to dive before rolling the ball into the bottom left corner.
6'
Messi takes an out-swinging corner for Argentina and Al Owais does well to punch it away from danger.
4'
The referee has a word with Al Malki after he fouls Martinez near the halfway line with a sliding challenge.
1'
Al Brikan gets the game underway for Saudi Arabia!
Hello and welcome to the live commentary of the World Cup fixture between Argentina and Saudi Arabia!
Argentina come into the tournaments as of one the favourites to win the competition. A 5-0 win over the United Arab Emirates in preparation for this match extended Argentina’s unbeaten run to 36 games under Lionel Scaloni, winning the Copa America and 2022 Finalissma in that time. All eyes will be on Lionel Messi, who has hinted that this will be his last World Cup.
Saudi Arabia finished third in their group four years after winning one of their three group games. They have only managed to make it out of the group stages once in their history when they made their debut in 1994. Herve Renard’s side did top their qualifying group ahead of both Japan and Australia as they conceded just six goals in 10 games.
Argentina (4-3-3): Emiliano Martinez; Nahuel Molina, Cristian Romero, Nicolas Otamendi, Nicolas Tagliafico; Rodrigo De Paul, Leandro Paredes; Angel Di Maria, Lionel Messi, Papu Gomez; Lautaro Martinez.
SUBS: Franco Armani, Geronimo Rulli, Juan Foyth, Gonzalo Montiel, German Pezzella, Marcos Acuna, Julian Alvarez, Exequiel Palacios, Angel Correa, Thiago Almada, Guido Rodriguez, Alexis Mac Allister, Paulo Dybala, Enzo Fernandez, Lisandro Martinez.
Saudi Arabia (4-4-1-1): Mohammed Al Owais; Saud Abdulhamid, Hassan Tambakti, Ali Al Bulayhi, Yasir Al Shahrani; Feras Al Brikan, Mohammed Kanno, Adbulelah Al Malki, Salem Al Dawsari; Salman Al Faraj; Saleh Al Shehri.
SUBS: Mohammed Al Yami, Nawaf Al Aqidi, Sultan Al Ghannam, Abdullah Madu, Abdulelah Al Amri, Mohammed Al Burayk, Abdullah Otayf, Ali Al Hassan, Sami Al Naji, Nawaf Al Abid, Hattan Bahbri, Abdulrahman Al Obud, Nasser Al Dawsari, Haitham Asiri.
The players are making their way out of the tunnel and onto the pitch!
Argentina players were called offside seven times in the first half as Saudi Arabia held a very high line throughout the half. Although it is working for them so far, they will need to be careful in the second period as Argentina will look to target it even more now.
That's all for today, goodbye!
Saudi Arabia's historic win moves them to the top of Group C for the time being. It is likely that Argentina will need to win their next two games to qualify for the knockout stages, starting with Mexico on Saturday. Saudi Arabia will face Poland in their next group game.
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