Betting gone wrong? Argentina's shock loss to Saudi Arabia costs fan a staggering $160,000

Argentina’s loss against Saudi Arabia in the Group C match of the FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar on Tuesday was inarguably the biggest upset witnessed in the marquee football event in recent times. After Lionel Messi scored a penalty goal for his side in the 10th minute of the game, Saudi Arabia went on to score two more goals in the second half to complete a 2-1 triumph over the No. 3 ranked team in the FIFA rankings. However, Argentina's catastrophic start to the Qatar World Cup was even more tragic for an Argentine fan who placed a huge bet on the team in the hope of a victory.  

As revealed by an online betting website named TAB ahead of the Argentina vs Saudi Arabia match on Tuesday, it has come to notice that the Argentine fan had placed a bet for a staggering USD 160,000. “BIG BET! This is LARGE! One punter has put $160,000 @ $1.13 on Argentina to beat Saudi Arabia tonight! #Qatar2022,” the betting company wrote on Twitter. It is pertinent to mention that Argentina is one of the favorites to win the prestigious quadrennial event, while the 51-ranked team Saudi Arabia is one of the underdogs.

Argentina lose after Lionel Messi equals Cristiano Ronaldo's World Cup record

Earlier in the game, the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner kicked off his campaign at the FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar in a stellar fashion by scoring a penalty in the 10th minute. With the penalty, the Argentine captain joined Portuguese great Cristiano Ronaldo in an elite list of footballers. The 35-year-old became the fifth player in history to net goals in four different editions of the FIFA World Cups. Meanwhile, Ronaldo can become a goalscorer in five different editions of the tournament if he scores for Portugal in the tournament.

Coming back to the match, Saleh Alshehri scored for Saudi Arabia in the 48th minute, before Salem Aldawsari doubled the lead in the 53rd minute. This was the first time since 1958 against Germany that Argentina faced defeat in a World Cup match after scoring the first goal. This was also the first occasion since the 1930 final against Uruguay that the South American team lost the match after leading at half-time.

At the same time, courtesy of the victory, Saudi Arabia became the first non-European team to defeat Argentina at the prestigious tournament since Cameroon in 1990. Interestingly, the last three teams that won against Messi’s team at the World Cup have either won the tournament or finished as runners-up. They are up against Mexico in their next group match on November 27.