LUSAIL, Qatar (AP) Lionel Messi stood with his hands on his hips near the center circle, looking stone-faced as Saudi Arabias jubilant players ran in all directions around him after scoring one of the biggest World Cup upsets ever against Argentina.

The South American champion and one of the tournament favorites slumped to a 2-1 loss against Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, in a deflating start to Messis quest to win the one major title that has eluded him.

Saudi Arabias comeback joins the list of other major World Cup upsets: Cameroons 1-0 win over an Argentina team led by Diego Maradona in the opening game of the 1990 World Cup, Senegals 1-0 victory over titleholder France 1-0 in the 2002 tournament opener or the United States beating England by the same score in 1950.

Prior to the match we were anointed as favorites, Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said. But this sort of stuff can happen in a World Cup.

Messi gave Argentina the lead in the 10th minute with a coolly dispatched penalty and the match had the makings of a routine win for the defending Copa America champion, which were on a 36-match unbeaten run.

Didnt turn out that way.

Goals by Saleh Alshehri and Salem Aldawsari in a five-minute span early in the second half gave the Saudis a landmark result in the first World Cup staged in the Middle East. The Saudis previous biggest win was 1-0 over Belgium at the 1994 World Cup.

All the stars aligned for us, Saudi Arabias coach Herve Renard said. We made history for Saudi football.