Lionel Messi was shook when Saudi Arabia defender Ali Al-Bulayhi squared up to him after goal

Ali Al-Bulayhi slapped Lionel Messi's back, squared up to the Argentina forward and said, "You will not win, you will not win!" after Saudi Arabia's second goal on Tuesday.

The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner, who is taking part in his fifth World Cup this year, opened the scoring from 12 yards for favourites Argentina at the Lusail Stadium after Saud Abdulhamid hauled down Leandro Paredes in the area.

But after dominating the first-half of their Group C clash in Doha, Lionel Scaloni's side struggled after the break.

Saleh Alshehri equalised with 48 minutes played before Salem Aldawsari's magnificent effort from the edge of the box handed Herve Renard's side a surprise 2-1 lead.

Moments after Alshehri's spectacular effort, Al-Hilal defender Ali Al-Bulayhi went over to goalscorer Lionel Messi, slapped him on the back and had a serious word with the Argentine.

Messi, who looked baffled throughout the ordeal, eventually started laughing after Al-Bulayhi squared up to the Paris Saint-Germain forward.

Was this an attempt to intimidate Argentina's captain or was he just having some fun? Well, after the full-time whistle, the defender opened up on that conversation.

After a reporter asked what he said, Al-Bulayhi replied: "I told him: you will not win, you will not win!”

You can see that bizarre moment between the two players below.

KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK ISSO AQUI pic.twitter.com/j3Sonbv65u

— TWITTEIRO ARARENSE (@leonardomed) November 22, 2022

Saudi Arabia went on to defend their slender 2-1 lead and, after the full-time whistle, Messi admitted Argentina can have "no excuses" after the shock defeat.

He said: "We knew that (Saudi) Arabia is a team with good players, that moves the ball well and that advances the line a lot. We work on it, but we speed up a bit.

"There are no excuses. We are going to be more united than ever. This group is strong and they have shown it.

"It is a situation that we did not have to go through in a long time. Now we have to show that this is a real group.

"It's a very hard blow for everyone, we didn't expect to start like this. Things happen for a reason. We have to prepare for what's coming, we have to win or win and it depends on us.

"We have to go back to the base of who we are. We have to think about what's to come."

Thoughts on Lionel Messi's performance against Saudi Arabia on Tuesday?

Let us know in the comments.