Saudi Arabia vs Argentina · Group C
The Saudi Shock
Saudi Arabia, ranked 51st, beat eventual champions Argentina 2–1 in the opening round — one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history.
32 nations, 64 matches, 172 goals, 8 stadia, and a final that became one of the greatest matches ever played. Squads, captains and FIFA rankings come from the Fifa2024 Postgres database; tournament outcomes are added from the public match record.
Saudi Arabia, ranked 51st, beat eventual champions Argentina 2–1 in the opening round — one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history.
Morocco became the first African and first Arab nation to reach a World Cup semi-final, eliminating Belgium, Spain (pens) and Portugal along the way.
Japan beat both Germany and Spain 2–1 from a goal down to top a group of giants — sending Germany out of the group stage for the second WC running.
Mbappé's hat-trick forced a 3–3 draw with Messi-led Argentina. Argentina won the shoot-out 4–2; Mbappé took the Golden Boot with 8 goals, Messi took the trophy.
FIFA's #2-ranked side crashed out of the group, beaten 2–0 by Morocco and held by Croatia — ending the "golden generation" without a deep run.
Croatia beat Japan and Brazil on penalties to reach a second consecutive medal — Modrić's bronze ball at age 37 capped a remarkable cycle.
wc2022_squads table.| Player | Pos | Age | Club | Caps | Intl Gls |
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wc2022_squads).wc2022_squads and wc2022_groups tables in the Fifa2024 Postgres database. Match results, group standings, knockout outcomes, top scorers and individual awards are added from public records. Country flags are Unicode emoji; FIFA logos and the official mascot are not used (trademarked).