Refereeing decisions 'nothing to do' with Argentina defeat, says Scaloni

Argentina were beaten by Saudi Arabia in their opening match at the World Cup

Lionel Scaloni believes his team's defeat was due to their own mistakes, not the refereeing

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni has said that refereeing decisions had "nothing to do" with his team's defeat to Saudi Arabia in their opening match at the World Cup.

The South Americans were stunned by the Saudis, who came from behind to win 2-1 in Lusail.

Argentina had three goals ruled out for offside, and Scaloni admitted that his team had made mistakes, but he did not blame the referee for the defeat.

"The refereeing decisions had nothing to do with it," Scaloni said.

"We made mistakes and we paid for them. We have to learn from this and move on."

Argentina will now face Mexico in their next match on Saturday, and Scaloni knows that his team will need to improve if they are to progress to the knockout stages.

"We need to be more clinical in front of goal and we need to be more solid at the back," Scaloni said.

"We know that Mexico will be a tough opponent, but we are confident that we can get a result."

Argentina are one of the favorites to win the World Cup, but their defeat to Saudi Arabia has raised concerns about their ability to compete with the best teams in the tournament.

However, Scaloni believes that his team can still win the tournament.

"We have a lot of quality in this team," Scaloni said.

"We just need to find our rhythm and I am confident that we can go all the way."