Saudi Arabia’s World Cup history making moment is now a public holiday across the country? You better believe it.
No global event means more to the world than the World Cup, nor more to the region. It’s so big, in fact, that Saudi Arabia just declared a public holiday tomorrow so the entire country can celebrate the historic win over Argentina in today’s qualifier match.
Yep, that means public and private sectors, and all schools, will be off tomorrow, so the country can bask in the biggest win in its history.
“King Salman orders that tomorrow, Wednesday, will be a holiday for all employees in public and private sectors as well as for students in all phases of education, in celebration of Saudi Arabia’s stunning victory over Argentina in the World Cup 2022,” said the Saudi Gazette.
It’s truly an amazing moment, with people celebrating across the region for the Green Falcons, as well as sharing photos of the players praying on the pitch as well as literally doing backflips.
Congrats, Saudi! We can’t wait to see how far you go.
Saudi Arabia’s historic victory in the World Cup
No matter what your sport is, who doesn’t love a good underdog story? The Saudi Arabian national team, sitting at spot 51 on the FIFA rankings, have managed to hand Messi’s number 3 ranked Argentina a loss in their first game of the tournament.
After falling to an early 0-1 deficit after a successful penalty from Messi, the team in green rallied in the second half and ultimately came out on top 2-1, behind goals courtesy of Saleh Alshehri and Salem Aldawsari, and a world class performance from Saudi keeper Mohammed Alowais to stave off some close calls.
The stands were erupting in green waves, as thousands from the Kingdom made the trip down to Qatar to support their players, it’s unlikely they expected this kind of a start facing off against perhaps the best player and team in this year’s World Cup.
If this opener is anything to go by, this is going to be a World Cup for the ages. Truly a historic, and deserved, win.
Lead photo via @ammarparis on Instagram.