Fifa World Cup: Argentina to face Croatia in semi-final match

Argentina beat the Netherlands on penalties 4-3 on Friday to reach the World Cup semifinals after an engrossing and ill-tempered quarterfinal battle ended in a 2-2 draw at the Lusail Iconic Stadium.

The two-time world champions will face Croatia in the semifinals.

In a scrappy game, Lionel Messi scored a 73rd minute goal from the penalty spot and set up Nahuel Molina's first half goal as Argentina were just minutes away from winning the match in regulation time.

But the Netherlands hit back in the 83rd minute when Wout Weghorst scored with a crisp header from a cross.

Weghorst then scored his second goal of the night in the 10th minute of injury time from a free kick to take the game to the extra time.

In the nerve-racking final minutes of the match, tackles kept flying from both sides, even leading to ugly altercations between players.

But it was the South Americans that showed the desire to find the winning goal in extra-time, especially in the second half, creating some great scoring opportunities.

Lautaro Martinez, who scored the match-winning penalty in the shootout, came closest to finding the match-winner in the dying minutes of the contest, but his shot hit the goalpost.

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