Argentina suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at the hands of 51st ranked side Saudi Arabia in their opening match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Argentina headed into the match as clear favourites and it did not take long for skipper Messi to open the scoring, doing so in the ninth minute from the spot after his side were gifted a penalty following a challenge on Leandro Paredes in the box.
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The 35-year-old scored again after 22 minutes played but the goal was ruled out for offside, and just five minutes later, VAR also cancelled out Lautaro Martinez's stunning chip over the Saudis' goalkeeper Mohammed Al Owais, deeming the Inter Milan striker to be offside.
Another Martinez strike was chalked off for offside ahead of the half-time break as the Saudis' high line in defence proved quite effective in the first half to ensure that the Albiceleste headed to the changing rooms with nothing more than a narrow 1-0 lead.
Things took a sharp turn early in the second half, however, when Herve Renard's charges equalised through Saleh Alshehri after he placed the ball in the bottom-right corner of Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez's goal.
The reigning Copa America champions were then left stunned in the 53rd minute after Saudi No. 10 Salem Aldawsari neatly cut inside and curled the ball past shot-stopper Martinez into the back of the net with a spectacular strike to give his team a surprise 2-1 lead over the world's third-ranked nation.
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Manager Lionel Scaloni made three substitutions right before the hour mark in order to get his men back into the game, taking off Cristian Romero, Papu Gomez, and Leandro Paredes for Lisandro Martinez, Julian Alvarez, and Enzo Fernandez, but to no avail.
Al Owais was kept busy by the two-time world champions' onslaught in the final minutes of the encounter but nothing came to fruition for the Albiceleste, with Scaloni's men ultimately managing only six attempts on target despite taking 15 shots at goal.
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