Red Network Moment News, November 23 (Reporter Fu Huanyu) In the football world, there is no absolute strength and weakness, and there is no absolute impossible!
Messi's World Cup trip to Qatar lost in the first match. Photo: Xinhuanet
On the evening of November 22, Beijing time, the Qatar World Cup broke out the biggest upset since the start of the tournament - Argentina was reversed 1-2 by Saudi Arabia, ending its 36-game unbeaten run since July 7, 2019, casting a shadow over its group stage prospects.
Argentina's goal was twice pierced by their opponents. Photo: Xinhuanet
In other matches between the evening of November 21 and the early hours of November 23, England beat Iran 6-2, the Netherlands beat Senegal 2-0, the United States drew 1-1 with Wales, Denmark vs Tunisia and Mexico vs Poland all played 0-0, and defending champions France beat Australia 4-1.
The biggest upset since the start of the race
Prior to the match against Saudi Arabia, Messi's Argentina set an impressive 36-game unbeaten streak, during which Argentina lifted the Copa America and the European and American Super Cup, and against Saudi Arabia, Argentina only needed to remain unbeaten to equals Italy's 37-game unbeaten world record for the national team. Ahead of the match, major newspapers were unanimously optimistic about Argentina's World Cup prospects, and the match against Saudi Arabia seemed to be just a warm-up match for Messi to the final stage.
Argentina starting line-up. Photo: Xinhuanet
After the opening, Argentina's formation was very bold, offering a 4-2-4 impactful tactical formation, Messi's penalty allowed the "blue and white" to determine the lead early, if not for VAR's "help" to void Lautaro Martinez's goal, Argentina may have ended the suspense long ago.
Messi's penalty briefly gave Argentina the lead. Photo: Xinhuanet
Then, the charm of football lies in the uncertainty of the game, and the unity of the Saudi team laid the groundwork for the situation to be turned around. Despite the ferocity of the Argentine attack, the lack of concentration of the defenders made the Argentine backline useless.
Saudi team Saleh al-Shehri (second from left) celebrates the goal. Photo: Xinhuanet
This minor flaw quickly cost Argentina dearly – goals from Saleh al-Shehri and Salem Dawasaari turned the tide in the opening of the second half. Later, the increasingly impatient Argentina team scored and finally swallowed the bitter fruit of losing in the first game. Messi's fifth World Cup trip started with an embarrassing defeat, and considering that Argentina will also face the strong Mexico and Poland in the future, the loss of the first game has to make people worry about Messi's World Cup prospects.
The loss in the first game cast a shadow over Messi's World Cup prospects. Photo: Xinhuanet
The victory of the Saudi team created the first big upset since the start of this World Cup. To celebrate the team's victory over Argentina, Saudi King Salman announced a holiday for all employees and students on Wednesday, November 23, according to Al Arabiya. Saudi Arabia has always been difficult to get rid of its "fish belly" identity on the World Cup stage, losing 5-0 to Russia in the opening game of the last World Cup, and losing 0-8 to the "German tank" 20 years ago. Against the backdrop of the defeats of Qatar and Iran, Saudi Arabia used a 2-1 comeback to justify Asian football.
Saudi Arabia created the first upset of the World Cup. Photo: Xinhuanet
At present, 4 of the 6 Asian teams in this World Cup have appeared. Subsequently, Japan and South Korea will officially debut to fight for the honor of Asian football - on November 23, at 21:00 Beijing time, Japan will play Germany for the first time, and the match between South Korea and Uruguay will be played at 21:00 Beijing time on November 24.
Tonight! Focus on Germany VS Japan
From the evening of November 23 to the early morning of November 25, Beijing time, the Qatar World Cup will play the final eight matches of the first round of the group stage. Among them, 21:00 Beijing time on November 23 (two hours later!) The match between Germany and Japan has attracted much attention from fans.
In a warm-up match before the World Cup, Germany narrowly beat Oman 1-0. Photo: Xinhuanet
In the last World Cup, the fate of the German and Japanese teams was very different - the German team's "defending champion" cursed and went out early in the group stage; Japan won 1 win, drew 1 and lost 1 in the group stage, but was reversed 3-2 by Belgium when they led by two goals in the 1/8 final, especially the last "black 14 seconds", which is still a pain in the hearts of Japanese fans.
In this World Cup, Japan aims to reach the top 8. Photo: Xinhuanet
In this World Cup, Germany, Japan, Spain and Costa Rica fell into Group E of the "Group of Death". Germany and Spain are aiming to compete for the title, Japan is also looking forward to reaching the last eight of the World Cup, and the "dark horse" Costa Rica in 2014 is not a good master. Every game is not a mistake for each team. In the first round of the group stage, in addition to the "German-Japanese battle", the match between Spain and Costa Rica will start at 00:00 on November 24.
Data map: In 2018, Hunan German fans organized fans to watch the World Cup in Russia. Photo: Xinhuanet
According to the Red Network Sports Reporter, in order to better watch the World Cup and cheer for the German team, the Hunan German Football Fan Association has scheduled to organize viewing activities on the night of the match. German team fan "Shuai Tang" said that he is very much looking forward to the arrival of the "German-Japanese battle" and hopes that the German team can defeat the opponent without bloodshed and make a good start for the journey of the 2022 World Cup.
Cristiano Ronaldo is on his fifth World Cup journey. Photo: Xinhuanet
Also noteworthy are the performances of Belgium, Portugal and Brazil, with the three teams taking on Canada, Ghana and Serbia respectively. Belgium's "golden generation" may end collectively after this World Cup, and Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar may not have the next World Cup. After Messi scored in the first game but the team lost in an upset defeat, what kind of performance will Ronaldo and Portugal bring?
Qatar World Cup Schedule
(From the evening of November 23 to the early morning of November 25, Beijing time)
⚽23 Nov 18:00 Morocco VS Croatia
⚽23 Nov 21:00 Germany VS Japan
⚽24 November 00:00 Spain VS Costa Rica
⚽24 November 03:00 Belgium VS Canada
⚽24 November 18:00 Switzerland VS Cameroon
⚽24 November 21:00 Uruguay VS South Korea
⚽25 November 00:00 Portugal VS Ghana
⚽25 Nov 03:00 Brazil vs Senegal
Part of the content is organized into Xinhuanet