Qatar World Cup 2022: Arabs rejoice after Saudi Arabia beat Argentina, while Tunisia hold Denmark to draw

Arab teams Saudi Arabia and Tunisia pulled off heroic footballing performances on Tuesday, the third day of action in the Qatar World Cup.

In their daunting Group B opener, Saudi Arabia faced two-time champions Argentina - one of the favourites to win the World Cup and ranked 50 places above the Green Falcons.

Despite some sloppy play in the opening 45 minutes, the Argentines still appeared the likely victors by half-time - 1-0 up and with three goals disallowed.

When captain Salman al-Faraj hobbled off at the end of the first half it seemed game over for Saudi Arabia.

But as the second half got underway, the Green Falcons were able to exploit gaps in the Argentine defence scoring twice in the space of five minutes to the rapture of the huge Saudi contingent at the Lusail Stadium.

The galvanised Saudis were able to hold off Argentinian efforts to stop the upset for the rest of the game and pulled off one of the most memorable wins in recent World Cup history.

At the Education City Stadium, Tunisia was up against Denmark, ranked 20 places above them in the official world rankings.

Before the match, Tunisia coach Jalel Kadri had expressed hope his team would play well against the Danes in the opener for Group C, of which Australia and defending World Cup champions France are also part.

And it looked in the first half as though the Carthage Eagles might take the lead, but two clear chances on goal were scuppered.

A nervous-looking Danish side was unable to make a decisive mark and lost two points in a match that pundits predicted to be a sure-fire win for the side.

The fourth Arab team in the tournament, Morocco, play their first match of the tournament tomorrow, against Croatia.