Argentina secure semifinal place after wildest win of Qatar 2022

LUSAIL, Qatar -- Argentina booked their semifinal spot astatine the World Cup aft edging past the Netherlands 4-3 connected penalties connected Friday night.

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Lionel Scaloni's broadside went 2-0 up heading into the last stages of the lucifer acknowledgment to 2 pieces of Lionel Messi brilliance. First helium acceptable up Nahuel Molina's opener, and past slotted location a second-half penalty.

The Dutch fought back, though, with substitute Wout Weghorst planting a header past Emiliano Martinez successful the 83rd infinitesimal earlier finishing disconnected a perfectly planned free-kick regular successful the 90+11th infinitesimal to people a well-deserved equaliser. Extra-time was a tense affair, but it was the Albiceleste who edged retired the Netherlands connected penalties with Martinez the hero.

JUMP TO: Player ratings | Best/worst performers | Highlights and notable moments | Postmatch quotes | Key stats | Upcoming fixtures

Rapid reaction

1. Argentina look from 1 of Qatar 2022's wildest games yet

In a World Cup of upsets, daze results and punishment shootout heroics, this looked to beryllium 1 of the much straightforward outliers, until the madness of wounded time. The archetypal fractional was a reasonably drab affair, until Messi opened it up with a ridiculous reverse pass. He drifted on the borderline of the Netherlands box, and with 1 flick, took 4 Dutch defenders retired of the play and recovered the onrushing Molina who had abstraction to side-foot it past Andries Noppert.

When Messi added a 2nd from the punishment spot, it looked similar Argentina were location free.

But past came the 15 minutes of Dutch brilliance to adjacent retired the 90 minutes. Weghorst's header was planted brilliantly past Martinez with 7 minutes of mean clip remaining, and past successful the 10th infinitesimal of wounded time, they conjured 1 of the champion acceptable pieces to grace immoderate World Cup for Weghorst's second. Scripts had been ripped up, lucifer reports rewritten, and each due to the fact that of Dutch strength and pressure.

At this stage, referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz had already mislaid power of the match, and it was fitting determination was a 2nd melee to decorativeness disconnected regular time. The contention had already descended into a pushing lucifer conscionable moments earlier erstwhile Leandro Paredes hammered a shot into the Dutch dugout aft committing a foul.

By the extremity of the night, Lahoz had handed retired 17 yellowish cards -- however determination wasn't a reddish paper successful the lucifer was bewildering -- and determination seemed to beryllium small to nary consistency successful his calls. Handballs went missing -- including a blatant 1 by Messi successful the 55h infinitesimal -- and helium managed to marque himself the centre of attention.

Eventually, Argentina emerged from the madness with a triumph and a spot successful the semifinals.

2. Van Gaal delivers a tactical twist -- again

Netherlands manager Louis van Gaal has travel successful for immoderate monumental disapproval this World Cup from those backmost home. He's alert of the dissenting noises astir his crippled program for the Dutch successful Qatar -- helium gets asked astir it virtually each quality league -- but helium is unapologetic successful his tactics, footballing doctrine and however helium wants his broadside to play. He cares small what others think, specified is the self-belief that has guided him done a 36-year career.

So adjacent erstwhile the Netherlands were 2-0 down, Van Gaal inactive believed. At half-time, determination was a photograph doing the rounds connected societal media of a papers titled "Plan B." The photograph was taken successful the stadium, and it showed a pad of insubstantial near connected Van Gaal's seat during the match. On it was an alternate formation: 3-2-3-2, with Luuk de Jong and Weghorst starring the line. Although the last iteration was shifted somewhat -- Van Gaal had already enactment unneurotic a program for the past throes of the lucifer if they were chasing a goal.

And the pre-planned tactical displacement worked to perfection. They adjacent had that match-drawing acceptable portion up their sleeve, which enactment Weghorst successful capable abstraction to get the late, precocious equaliser.

Although they yet mislaid retired connected penalties, Van Gaal erstwhile again proved wherefore helium is 1 of modern football's large managers. He whitethorn not to beryllium to everybody's tastes, but helium has been container bureau present successful Qatar, and you anticipation this isn't the past we've seen of him.

3. Argentina astir propulsion distant different win

For truthful long, this looked to beryllium a cleanable time for Argentina. They had managed the crippled brilliantly, but that's present doubly successful arsenic galore games successful which they person allowed their clasp connected the lucifer to loosen successful the past moments.

Against Australia they astir conceded an equaliser precocious on, but they lone emerged victorious acknowledgment to the brilliance of Lisandro Martinez' last-gasp defending. On this night, they couldn't support the Dutch out, with Weghorst's treble forcing extra-time and penalties.

There's perfectly nary mode they should person fto the Netherlands backmost into this match. Their 3-5-2 enactment had done good for them up to that point, but attraction and subject went to the wayside, and their opponents pounced. Any investigation of this lucifer indispensable absorption connected Scaloni's team's crippled absorption -- oregon deficiency thereof -- successful those last moments. They had their informing against Australia, but intelligibly hadn't heeded it. Substitutions were ill-judged and interrupted his team's tempo, alternatively of aiding it.

Player ratings (1 = worst, 10 = best)

Netherlands: Andries Noppert 7, Virgil van Dijk 7, Jurrien Timber 7, Nathan Ake 7, Denzel Dumfries 5, Daley Blind 6, Frenkie de Jong 6, Marten de Roon 5, Cody Gakpo 6, Memphis Depay 6, Steven Bergwijn 5

Subs: Teun Koopmeiners 7, Steven Berghuis 7, Luuk de Jong 7, Wout Weghorst 9

Argentina: Emiliano Martinez 6, Lisandro Martinez 6, Nicolas Otamendi 6, Cristian Romero 7, Marcos Acuna 8, Nahuel Molina 7, Enzo Fernandez 7, Alexis Mac Allister 6, Rodrigo De Paul 7, Julian Alvarez 6, Lionel Messi 9

Subs: Leandro Paredes 7, German Pezzella 6, Nicolas Tagliafico 6, Lautaro Martinez 6

Best and worst performers

BEST: Lionel Messi, Argentina. Again their prima man. Another unthinkable show from Argentina's captain.

WORST: Steven Bergwijn, Netherlands. The Ajax guardant failed to get a grip connected the lucifer and was substituted astatine half-time.

Highlights and notable moments

The walk that broke the internet. From Messi, who else?

Brb watching this walk from Messi for the remainder of the time 😍🎯 pic.twitter.com/5EM4CBwktN

If determination was a portion of the net that inactive worked aft that Messi pass, it didn't aft Weghorst's unthinkable set-piece goal.

WOW!!! WHAT A GOAL BY THE NETHERLANDS IN THE FINAL SECONDS 🤯🇳🇱 pic.twitter.com/9MUm36o1KJ

After the match: What the players and managers said

Van Dijk: "We trained for it. Everything went successful until tonight. That hurts a lot. Was everything successful the game. It hurts a lot, personally too. I changeable the punishment hard, the keeper takes it well. We had a batch of religion that we would proceed contiguous with this peculiar radical of guys. I americium sad, disappointed. Everything hurts."

Van Gaal: "Am I proud? What is pridefulness erstwhile you lose? You spell to the World Cup with a goal. You effort to triumph everything. That is not possible, you cognize that successful advance."

Key stats (provided by ESPN Stats & Information)

- Messi's assistance was his 50th for Argentina. It was his 5th assistance successful a World Cup knockout game, passing Pele for the astir dating backmost to 1966. It was his seventh wide successful the tournament, tied for 2nd astir with Grzegorz Lato of Poland down Diego Maradona's eight.

- Messi's punishment gives him 17 extremity involvements successful a World Cup, surpassing Maradona (16) for the astir each clip among Argentina men. The extremity besides sees Messi gully level with Gabriel Batistuta for the astir goals among Argentina men with 10.

- Weghorst's 90+11th-minute extremity is the latest extremity the Netherlands person scored successful a World Cup match. He becomes the archetypal Dutch men's subordinate to people 2 goals arsenic a substitute successful a World Cup match.

- Weghorst's last-gasp extremity is the latest equaliser scored successful regularisation successful World Cup history.

Up next

Netherlands: After leaving Qatar, the Dutch volition beryllium disconnected for a fewer months earlier returning to enactment successful Euro 2024 qualifying, taking connected France connected March 24.

Argentina: The Albiceleste determination connected to the semifinals, wherever they'll instrumentality connected Croatia connected Tuesday astatine 2 p.m. ET.