Best save of the World Cup? Wojciech Szczesny's epic double stop vs Saudi Arabia | OneFootball

Wojciech Szczesny produced the best save of the 2022 World Cup so far on Saturday afternoon.

Staring down the barrel of a Salem Al-Dawsari penalty, the former Arsenal goalkeeper produced a superb stop to his right-hand side, before making an even better save to thwart the rebound.

Poland were protecting their 1-0 lead established through a Piotr Zieliński goal as they looked to avoid the same fate that Lionel Messi‘s Argentina suffered at the hands of the Saudi Arabians earlier in the week.

What did Szczesny do vs Saudi Arabia?

And that might not have been possible if it wasn’t for Szczesny conjuring up the magic to produce a double save so magnificent that it harked to his heroics to deny a Dirk Kuyt spot-kick back in his Premier League days.

Just as he did on that 2012 day at Anfield, Szczesny managed to follow up a penalty save with a world-class display of goalkeeping even better than what came before it just seconds later.

And it’s going to take something truly special to top the athleticism that Szczesny showed against Saudi Arabia to recoil the spring in his legs and tip the penalty rebound over the crossbar.

There’s good reason to think that it could earn Szczesny an unofficial ‘Save of the World Cup’ title, so be sure to check out one of the finest shows of individual quality at Qatar 2022 so far down below:

Video: Szczesny’s remarkable double save vs Saudi Arabia

What a breath-taking piece of goalkeeping! It’s one thing to save a penalty in the first place, but another thing to get straight back to your feet and go again in such spectacular fashion.

Szczesny has always been on the fringes of the conversation for the world’s best shot-stoppers, but there’s no denying that he’s a formidable force between the sticks on his day.

Photo: Should Szczesny’s save have stood?

Nevertheless, the double save wasn’t without its controversy with some fans wondering whether or not Szcesny’s foot had strayed off his line when Al-Dawsari made contact with the ball.

Well, the truth of the matter is that it’s incredibly close with replays showing that the Juventus shot-stopper’s boot was still within a few millimetres of that precious white paint.

And given how hard it is in the first place for goalkeepers not to even come so much as an inch forward off their line from a penalty, you’d imagine that most of Szczesny’s peers will be happy that the stop was allowed to stand.

However, even in a cruel world where the officials ordered a rerun, that wouldn’t have taken away from the memory and quality of Szczesny’s astonishing save first time around. You love to see it.