SAUDI ARABIA head coach Herve Renard said the stars aligned in today’s “completely crazy” comeback win against Argentina, which goes down as one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history.

Few expected anything other than a Lionel Messi-inspired cakewalk at the Lusail Stadium, where the 35-year-old’s early penalty only furthered that feeling.

Argentina went on to have three goals disallowed for offside in a one-sided first half that was followed by a remarkable second period in which the raucous Saudi fans cheered their side to a stunning victory.

Saleh al-Shehri and Salem al-Dawsari scored a quickfire double soon after the restart to put Renard’s men ahead, with goalkeeper Mohammed al-Owais putting in a man-of-the-match display to help see out a famous 2-1 win.

Saudi coach Renard, who spent a short spell as Cambridge boss in 2004, said: “We prepared very well and today all the stars in the sky were in the same line for us.

“But don’t forget Argentina are still a fantastic team. They came here without losing lose any game in 36 and they are South American champions. They have amazing players, but this is football. Sometimes completely crazy things can happen.

“Do you imagine Lionel Messi [is highly motivated] against Saudi Arabia? Of course he will say ‘we need to start very well,’ but you know the motivation is not like they play Brazil. This is normal, this is part of football.”

Argentina remain among the favourites to lift the World Cup at the Lusail Stadium on December 18 but began the finals with a defeat for the first time since Cameroon stunned them in 1990.

Messi, who became just the fifth player to score in four World Cups, struck a frustrated figure after the shock defeat.

“It is a very hard blow for everyone,” said the Argentina captain, ironically, an ambassador for Saudi tourism. “There are no excuses. We are going to be more united than ever. This group is strong, and we have shown it. It is a situation that we haven’t gone through in a long time. Now we have to show that this is a real group.

“We knew that Saudi Arabia is a team with good players, that they move the ball well and that they push [forward] the [defensive] line a lot.

“We worked on it, but we rushed a bit. We have to go back to the base of who we are. We have to think about what’s next.”

For Argentina, next comes Mexico on Saturday.