FIFA World Cup 2022, Day 3: Saudi Arabia upset Argentina, as defending champions France crush Australia

After the magnificent first two days, the thrill continued on day 3. Six teams were in action on the third day of the 22^nd edition of the FIFA World Cup. This day will be the most memorable day in the history of football for Saudi Arabia as we saw the tournament’s first major upset. The Copa America 2021 winner, Argentina was beaten by Saudi Arabia in the first match of the day.

There are 32 teams in the tournament and all will be running for 16 spots in the knockout rounds. On Day 1 the hosts Qatar suffered a brutal loss to Ecuador by 2-0. The shining team of Day 2 were England as they thrashed Iran by 6-2. The Netherlands also managed to seal their first victory of the tournament by beating Senegal. Meanwhile, USA and Wales end in a stalemate.

There were three matches played on Tuesday.

Argentina vs Saudi Arabia

The Group C encounter kicked off at the Faraway Lusail Stadium. The stadium began filling up as early as 2 hours before the match started. Most fans came to see the football maestro Lionel Messi. The fans were all pumped up after a dream start for Argentina as Messi stepped up to take a penalty in the 10^th minute of the match. And Argentina got the lead by 1-0 in the first half.

The second half of the match was a shocker for the Argentinians. Saudi Arabia’s Saleh Al-Shehri scored an equalizer in the 48^th minute of the match and makes it 1-1. The fans at the stadium were stunned but they believed that Messi and Co. will definitely take the lead soon again. But that didn’t happen as four minutes later, Salem Al Dawsari slammed a beautiful curler into the top corner and took his team to a memorable victory by 2-1.

Denmark and Tunisia

The second match of the day was a Group D encounter as Denmark and Tunisia clashed at the Education City Stadium. The energy at the stadium was very electric and it was pretty difficult to spot a Denmark fan in the red sea of Tunisian fans.

Tunisia missed some certain shots in the first half of the match but the best chance to score a goal appeared to come from Denmark player Andreas Cornelius who landed a header but it wasn’t to get the lead of 1-0. Tunisia have made six FIFA World Cup appearances but never made it to the knockouts.

Mexico vs Poland

The third match of the day was again a Group C encounter. Poland and Mexico came on the ground to get their first win and make their way to seal the spot for the knockout stage.

Mexico’s intensity in the opening 35 minutes was tremendous as they were successful to keep the star striker from Poland, Robert Lewandowski away from scoring. The surprise came in the second half of the match as Poland were awarded a penalty. Lewandowski took the shot but failed to get past Mexico’s goalkeeper and the match ended up in a draw.

France vs Australia

Defending champions France began their World Cup campaign with an easy win over Australia. The Group D teams clashed at Al Janoub Stadium in Qatar. The first goal of the match was scored by the Australians as Craig Goodwin in the 9^th minute of the match. But France didn't take much time to score an equalizer as Adrien Rabiot scored in the 27^th minute.

For minutes late Oliver Giroud put France into a lead of 2-1. In the 68^th, the star striker Kylian Mbappe scored the third goal for the team.  Meanwhile, Giroud completed his brace in the 71st minute of the match and makes it 4-1.