As Saudi Arabia downs Argentina, a glimpse into how they fared in World Cups since 1994

In the ongoing FIFA World Cup, the globe has apparently seen one of the biggest upsets as Saudi Arabia went on to defeat mighty Argentina. The victory for the Saudi team becomes more special as they are the first team to defeat the South Americans in the last three years and break their 36-game unbeaten streak in the international arena. The game started off well for Argentina as their Captain, Lionel Messi took a lead in the first 10 minutes, thanks to a penalty and the South Americans maintained the lead till the end of the first half. 

Saleh Al-Shehri scored the equaliser as soon as the second half began and then Salem Aldawsari fired the winner for the Asian team. Currently, Saudi Arabia is the second lowest rank team at Qatar and this victory would be a huge morale booster for their campaign ahead. The Middle Eastern country played their first World Cup in 1994 in the USA and since then has participated every year barring 2010 and 2014. Here's a look at their World Cup journey since 1994:

Saudi Arabia's record at FIFA World Cup: At a glance

In 1994, under the leadership of Argentine manager Jorge Solari and with the support of national veteran Majed Abdullah as team captain, Saudi Arabia made it to their first FIFA World Cup. After victories in the group stage over Belgium and Morocco, the team faced Sweden in the round of 16, where they were defeated 3-1. Saudi Arabia made it into the following three World Cups, but they failed to win a game in any of them; in 2002, they finished bottom without scoring and let up 12 goals, including eight against Germany.

Again the team qualified in 2006 but was unable to prove their mettle as the team didn't win a single game in this campaign. After a long hiatus of 12 years, Saudi Arabia again qualified in 2018 which was held in Russia. here too, the start was not pretty good as the team faced defeat by the host in the very first as Russia fired 5 goals against them. Later in the same campaign, the team went on to lose against Uraguay but managed a narrow win against Egypt. 

In the 2022 Qatar World Cup, the Middle East team started their campaign with a blast defeating Copa America champions Argentia. Many from the footballing fraternity have already framed it as the 'biggest upset' of this year's World Cup. The Middle East has to face Poland and later Nigeria in their world cup campaign.