PS: there were – and you can say this in a Begbie voice if you want - 16 yellow cards. And that’s just the players; at least one of Argentina’s coaching team was also booked.
Updated
After that weirdly wonderful game, it’s time for a lie-down. Thanks for all your emails tonight; it was so frantic towards the end that I had to shut my inbox in the interests of sanity-preservation. I’ll leave you with Ben Fisher’s report from the Lusail Stadium. Goodnight!
Empathy corner
Brutal pic.twitter.com/mLx8AhMTEF
— Paul Campbell (@campbellwpaul) December 9, 2022
If England do somehow meet Argentina in the final, don’t be surprised if Andy Carroll gets a late call-up. They went to pieces when the Netherlands starting going long towards Luuk de Jong and Wout Weghorst.
Argentina’s players now celebrating with their delirious fans pic.twitter.com/BUUMrythan
— Sean Ingle (@seaningle) December 9, 2022
Argentina won that game three times. First when they went 2-0 up in normal time, then when they went 2-0 up in the penalty competition, and then finally – after Enzo Fernandez’s miss threatened yet another twist – when Lautaro Martinez scored the decisive penalty.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a game quite like that. In many ways it was a stinker, but it had drama, aggro, a couple of sublime passes from Lionel Messi and Teun Koopmeiners, at least 14 yellow cards and the bizarre sight of the Netherlands playing lime Bobby Gould’s Wimbledon, and doing it brilliantly.
Updated
Wout Weghorst is in tears, lying head down on the pitch. His two late goals brought Netherlands back from the dead, but they didn’t go in for the kill in extra time. Ultimately the hero was not Weghorst but Emi Martinez, who made two quite brilliant penalty saves.
It was a really good penalty from Lautaro Martinez, who sent Noppert the wrong way and whipped the ball high to his left. For the second time in three World Cups, Louis van Gaal’s Netherlands have gone out on penalties to Argentina. Meanwhile, the two benches are having yet another fracas, though it’s hard to see exactly what is happening.
Updated
Full time: Netherlands 2-2 Argentina (3-4 pens)
Argentina will play Croatia in the semi-final on Tuesday after finally overcoming the Netherlands in a weird classic!
Updated
PENALTIES: Netherlands 3-3 Argentina
Luuk de Jong keeps the Netherlands alive with another calm penalty. But now it’ll be Lautaro Martinez, with the chance to put Argentina in the semi-finals.
Updated
PENALTIES: Netherlands 2-3 Argentina
Fernandez shoots just wide of the left-hand post! It’s not quite over yet.
PENALTIES: Netherlands 2-3 Argentina
Weghorst scores! Then there’s a row between Timber and one of the Argentina players. It’s been such an ill-tempered game. But if Enzo Fernandez scores, Argentina will be through.
PENALTIES: Netherlands 1-3 Argentina
Montiel sends Noppert the wrong way! Argentina are one more Martinez save away from the semi-finals.
Updated
PENALTIES: Netherlands 1-2 Argentina
Koopmeiners scores emphatically to keep the Netherlands in with an outside chance.
PENALTIES: Netherlands 0-2 Argentina Paredes whacks an excellent penalty into the left-hand corner, and Argentina are already on the brink of the semi-finals.
PENALTIES: Netherlands 0-1 Argentina
Martinez makes an even better save from Berghuis! He saved three in the Copa America against Colombia, and now he’s doing it again. It was a pretty good penalty, hammered low to Martinez’s left, but Martinez guessed right and beat it away.
Updated
PENALTIES: Netherlands 0-1 Argentina
Lionel Messi scores, cockily sending Noppert the wrong way.
PENALTIES: Netherlands 0-0 Argentina
Martinez saves brilliantly from Van Dijk!
Updated
The Netherlands will go first. Virgil van Dijk, to be precise.
Argentina beat the Netherlands 4-2 on penalties in the 2014 semi-final, with Ron Vlaar and Wesley Sneijder missing. Traditionally, Argentina have a much better record in shootouts than the Netherlands, who were eliminated on penalties in 1992, 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2014.
Whichever team loses this will have all sorts of regrets – Argentina for wobbling in the face of Total Longball, the Netherlands for not killing Argentina off in the first period of extra-time.
Full time: Netherlands 2-2 Argentina
And after all that, it goes to penalties.
ET: 120+1 min: Fernandez hits the post! Dear me. The corner was taken short and worked to Fernandez, 25 yards out. He took a touch and pinged a sweet shot across goal that beat Noppert and rebounded off the outside of the post.
ET: 120 min: Di Maria almost scores from the corner! He smashed it towards the near post, deliberately I think, and Noppert leapt to push it over.
Updated
ET: 120 min The Netherlands area hanging on desperately. Messi’s shot from the edge of the D takes a deflection and rolls a few yards wide.
ET: 119 min The lively Lautaro Martinez rolls Timber neatly on the edge of the D and hits a rasping left-footed drive that is punched away by Noppert, diving to his right. Good save.
ET: 119 min You couldn’t call this a great game, but it will certainly live in the memory as a kind of disgusting classic.
ET: 118 min A good inswinging cross from Lang is confidently claimed by Emi Martinez, with Berghuis waiting behind him to score.
ET: 116 min I have no idea where Argentina have found this burst of energy. Di Maria’s outswinging corner is headed over at the near post by Pezzella, a half chance at best.
ET: 115 min It’s Argentina who are pushing for the winner. Fernandez’s long-range shot hits Weghorst before bouncing over the stranded Noppert and onto the roof of the net! Dear me, that was so close.
ET: 114 min: Chance for Argentina! Di Maria zips round the back on the right and arrows a cutback towards Lautaro Martinez, whose sweet first-time shot hits Van Dijk in the breastbone and flies behind for a corner. I don’t think it was going in, though I wouldn’t bet the farm on it.
Updated
ET: 113 min Netherlands bring on Noa Lang for Cody Gakpo.
ET: 113 min: Chance for the Netherlands! Gakpo lookps the free-kick towards the unmarked Luuk de Jong, whose volley is crucially blocked by Fernandez.
ET: 112 min Gakpo charges forward and is challenged strongly by Pezzella. He gets the ball but scissors Gakpo afterwards. Another yellow card, the 15th of the game I think.
ET: 111 min Another Argentina substitution, and an attacking one: Angel Di Maria replaces Lisandro Martinez.
ET: 110 min Messi take a short free-kick on the right, then shimmies infield towards the edge of the area. “Here we go, here we go,” says the BBC commentator Jonathan Pearce, at which point Messi picks out the man in Row F.
ET: 109 min Argentina are having more of the ball now. I’m not sure what’s happened to the Netherlands in extra time. Maybe they’re just shattered. Meanwhile, the referee has booked Montiel for dissent, which means he’ll miss the semi-final if Argentina get there. That’s the 74th booking of the game.
ET: 108 min “Rob, we need to dwell on that Dutch free kick,” says David Griffiths. “Reminded me very much of the Argentine free kick trick vs England in 1998. Could we say the Dutch out-Zanettied the Argentines there?
That’s a good comparison. I think this one was even better because Koopmeiners played the pass infield, which is much harder to pull off. Zanetti’s finish was even better than Weghorst’s, though.
ET: 107 min Messi’s inswinging corner is claimed at the second attempt by Noppert.
ET: 106 min Peep peep!
Argentina substitution Gonzalo Montiel replaces Nahuel Molina, whose superb goals feels forever ago.
Half time in extra time: Netherlands 2-2 Argentina
The first period of extra time was soundtracked by Brian Eno. No chances, no shots, unless I’ve forgotten them, and a surprising lack of ambition from the Netherlands.
Updated
Nelson Vivas has just been booked
— Jonathan Liew (@jonathanliew) December 9, 2022
ET: 104 min Messi’s floated free-kick just evades Otamendi, stretching at the far post.
ET: 104 min Timber commits another foul, this time on Lautaro Martinez, and gets, erm, another final warning.
ET: 103 min It feels like this is going to penalties. The Netherlands might, to use one of Diego Maradona’s favourite phrases, be letting the tortoise get away from them here.
ET: 102 min “Should that free kick equaliser have counted?” says Alan Cormack. “The laws of the game state that no Dutch player should have been within 1m of the Argentine wall when that free kick was taken. Weghorst may have been ok, but there was another Dutch player between him and the wall who moved towards it as the ball was kicked. It would be difficult to argue that he wasn’t interfering with the ball in such close proximity.”
Crikey, I missed that. I almost wish they’d disallowed it, just to see Van Gaal’s reaction when he was told why it had been ruled out.
ET: 101 min Messi runs into Timber and falls over. The referee buys it and gives Timber a final warning.
ET: 101 min “As magnificent as that free kick was, let’s not forget the delightful contribution of German Pezzella for committing, arguably, the stupidest foul in this World Cup,” says Sam Hankins. “How thick do you have to be to shoulder barge an opponent in the back with seconds to go to a semifinal? Unbelievable.”
ET: 100 min Berghuis’s inswinger is headed away.
ET: 99 min Luuk de Jong receives a neat pass from Frenkie de Jong and is fouled by Otamendi. The free-kick about 22 yards from goal, in line with the right edge of the area.
ET: 98 min Nothing has happened in extra time. Argentina look a bit shocked, the Netherlands look happy to be alive. I’m surprised they haven’t been more positive because all the momentum is with them, or at least it was at the start of extra time.
ET: 97 min “Van Gaal also went full long ball against Ireland in 2001,” says Tristan Murphy. “He had six attackers on at one stage, and was trying to hoof it up to the big man for the last 20.”
He brought himself on? Ho ho ho.
ET: 96 min The Netherlands have gone back to playing football, which is a bit strange in the circumstances.
ET: 95 min An overhit cross from Gakpo lands on the roof of the net. Martinez pulls his hands away at the last second. He still hasn’t made a save in this game. In fairness, I know we’ve been joking about Total Longball but Weghorst took both his goals beautifully.
ET: 95 min Where’s Tim Krul when you need him.
ET: 94 min “No matter what occurs from here, that was one of the all-time-great free kicks,” says Mac Millings. “Technique, strength, precision, and nerves of steel. Magnificent.”
And to do it at that moment, knowing how ridiculous you’ll look if you mess it up. I’d have been a quivering wreck, like a teenage boy who was invited t- well never mind.
ET: 93 min I thought Argentina had the game under control. They did, until Van Gaal revealed a hitherto unknown love of Charles Hughes’ footballing philosophy. Thing is, Van Gaal 2.0 is all about one thing, results, and the last 15 minutes brooks no argument on that score.
ET: 92 min “Long ball from the Dutch?” says Niall Mullen. “Like De Boer to Bergkamp?”
That was a long pass (or, as Cris Freddi put it so brilliantly, “a stretch limo of a pass”). Most of the, a-hem, passes in the last 20 minutes have been based on the Wimbledon 1988-89 season review VHS.
ET: 91 min Peep peep! Apparently Steven Bergwijn was booked during that mini-rumble at the final whistle. Messi is having a moan at the referee, although he should be thankful that Paredes wasn’t sent off.
Updated
Blimey, it kicked off again at the final whistle, with both benches pushing and shoving. That equaliser, the nerve of it! The free-kick was on the edge of the D, just to the left of centre. Koopmeiners dummied to shoot and then threaded a gentle little pass into the area. Weghorst, who knew exactly what was coming, controlled it deftly, ignored Fernandez’s challenge and gave Martinez no chance.
WELL THEN 😳
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) December 9, 2022
Wout Weghorst's second goal sends it to extra-time! 😱#BBCFootball #BBCWorldCup pic.twitter.com/2pVsJhuKQf
Updated
Full time: Netherlands 2-2 Argentina
Well that escalated slowly.
Updated
90+13 min Otamendi is booked, don’t ask me why. It was Total Longball that unnerved Argentina, but that second goal really was ingenious and, in the circumstances, spectacularly ballsy.
This is uuuuuuuuuuunbelievable! Koopmeiners took the free-kick, but instead of shooting he angled a brilliantly clever pass into Weghorst. He took a touch, held off Fernandez and dragged a left-footed shot across Emi Martinez! What a goal!
Updated
GOAL! Netherlands 2-2 Argentina (Weghorst 90+11)
Total Football is dead, long live Total Longball!
Updated
90+11 min Messi, who should have been booked earlier, does get a yellow card this time, I think for dissent.
90+10 min Pezzella shoves Weghorst over on the edge of the D, a stupid and needless foul…
90+8 min Argentina have restored a little bit of order. Van Dijk is now playing as a centre-forward as well, but the Netherlands aren’t putting enough balls – decent or otherwise – into the area.
Updated
90+6 min Gakpo’s inswinging cross is headed away superbly under pressure by the backpedalling Otamendi. Better still for Argentina, he is fouled by De Jong and they can waste another 30 seconds.
90+5 min What a weird end to what looked like being an easy victory for Argentina. Netherlands are just lumping everything forward, and it’s working far better than anything else they’ve tried in this game.
90+3 min Lisandro Martinez is down after a clash of heads with Otamendi.
90+3 min Berghuis’s free-kick hits the wall.
90+2 min In fact it was Van Dijk who was booked, not Ake.
Updated
90+1 min Otamendi fouls Gakpo on the edge of the D. Argentina have gone to pieces in the face of this unlikely Wimbledon 1988 tribute.
Updated
90+1 min: Ten minutes of added time!
90 min Ake was also booked apparently. Van Dijk put an Argentina player on the floor, possibly Paredes, but he wasn’t booked.
90 min Paredes gets one yellow card, not two.
89 min: It’s kicking off big time! Paredes fouls Ake and then hoofs the ball straight at the Dutch bench, who all charge on to the field looking to have an urgent discussion about etiquette. Oh my. It disperses quickly enough but for a few seconds it looked like there might be an old-fashioned bar-emptier.
Paredes should really get two yellow cards here, one for the foul and one for smacking the ball at the Dutch bench.
Updated
87 min This is the first time all night that Argentinave have looked uncomfortable. Messi buys some time by running into Berghuis and falling over. Berghuis is booked.
The referee has been a bit pathetic tonight.
85 min: Just wide from Berghuis! All of a sudden, Total Longball has got Argentina on the reack. A long cross is headed down by Luuk de Jong to Berghuis, who whistles a screaming half-volley into the side netting at the near post. I thought that was in.
The referee gave a corner, though it didn’t seem to take a deflection. And it certainly wasn’t saved by Martinez, who barely saw it.
84 min That was the Netherlands’ first attempt on target. Imagine if they win the World Cup with an orgy of headers from Weghorst and Luuk De Jong.
Total Longball may yet save the Netherlands. It was a simple goal: an inswinging cross from the right by Berghuis, and a fine flicked header from 12 yards by Weghorst.
Updated
GOAL! Netherlands 1-2 Argentina (Weghorst 83)
Hello!
82 min Another change for Argentina. Lautaro Martinez replaces Julian Alvarez up front.
81 min After good play from Mac Allister, Tagliafico’s cross takes a deflection and loops into the hands of Noppert.
80 min Argentina and Croatia have met twice at the World Cup, both in the group stages. Argentina won 1-0 in 1998; Croatia hammered them 3-0 in 2018.
78 min: Double substitution for Argentina German Pezzella and Nicolas Tagliafico replace Cristian Romero and Marcos Acuna. The Netherlands bring on Wout Weghorst for Memphis Depay, who had a minor stinker.
The Dutch cognoscenti will be loving this – Van Gaal now has two big lumps up front.
78 min “Dumfries withdrew his leg and didn’t touch him,” says Jan Schreuder.
Really? I missed that if so, though more importantly VAR missed it.
77 min Gakpo goes over in the area after a clumsy tackle, I think from Romero. That looked like a decent shout for a penalyt, though nobody really appealed.
76 min Lisandro Martinez and Depay have been booked. Apparently there’s a protester on the field, though the cameras aren’t showing it.
75 min There’s a bit of a row between Emi Martinez and De Jong, though I don’t think there was much in it.
It was a cool penalty, swept to the right of Noppert, who didn’t even dive. Argentina are heading for a semi-final against Croatia.
Updated
GOAL! Netherlands 0-2 Argentina (Messi 73 pen)
Messi scores!
Updated
Acuna was on the left edge of the area when he cut back inside Dumfries, who dangled a lazy leg and brought him down. A clear and entirely needless penalty.
PENALTY TO ARGENTINA!
71 min I was just about to say Acuna has dominated his duel with Dumfries, and now he has won a penalty!
70 min Argentina are in total control of this game. I suppose you could have said the same about Brazil before they were stung by Croatia, but even so, the Netherlands have been so disappointing going forward.
69 min In fact they’ve only had one shot off target.
67 min The Netherlands still haven’t had a shot on target.
66 min: Argentina substitution Leandro Paredes replaces the excellent Rodrigo De Paul, who isn’t fit enough to play 90 minutes.
65 min: Netherlands substitution Luuk de Jong replaces Daley Blind, which presumably means a switch to 4-3-3 with Ake moving to left-back.
64 min This is great. I got so excited about the pass that I forgot to mention the lovely sleight of hip to lose Ake.
#Messi𓃵 https://t.co/AyVnppavq3
— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) December 9, 2022
63 min Messi smashes a spectacular free-kick just over the bar. It flashed across Noppert, who wouldn’t have saved it, and brushed the top of the net.
61 min Messi is shoved over just outside the area by van Dijk. The free-kick is 22 yards out, slightly to the left of centre, which makes it perfect for a right-footer. Arf.
Updated
60 min “No Argentina Netherlands World Cup game would be complete without a mention of the Argentinian shithousery before the 1978 final,” says Richard Hirst. “Every possible delaying and unsettling tactic utilised, and successfully in that the crowd were wound up to even greater heights of partisanship (and use of toilet rolls/streamers - those were the days). And let’s not forget the Dutch goal, scored by the least ‘total football’ Dutch player imaginable.”
Yes, the kick-off was delayed by about 10 minutes because of van Hanegem’s van der Kerkhof’s cast, wasn’t it? Abraham Klein wouldn’t have allowed that nonsense.
Updated
59 min Mac Allister, who has generally been excellent, breaks through midfield but then overhits a relatively simple through pass to De Paul. It does feel like Argentina are going to pick the Netherlands off on the break.
59 min “There’s been a lot of talk about the way Messi is always looking two steps ahead and planning what could happen,” says Matt Dony. “Football as chess. I admit, I don’t always buy into that. The game is too fluid and reactionary. I always figured it’s more a case of, he is so stupendously good, he can react to whatever situation is unfolding around him.
“He has the vision to see all of what’s happening now, and the technical ability to do whatever is needed. But that pass has made me wonder. It never looked on. It didn’t seem like a part of the game at that moment. Even watching it back, it doesn’t look on. I’ve never loved Messi, because I have an irrational hatred of Barcelona. But I respect the hell out of him. He deserves a shot at the World Cup. And Van Dijk can get back to training with his mates.”
An Argentina v England final would be a feelgood classic.
57 min The Netherlands are having all of the ball now, though it’s Argentina who are controlling the game. Their defence looks very comfortable.
Updated
55 min Messi is penalised, but not booked, for a brazen handball. That’s a sackable offence from the referee.
Updated
52 min Lots of Netherlands possession now, though it’s all in front of Argentina. At the moment they don’t look like scoring.
51 min De Paul overhits a through pass to Messi, allowing Noppert to charge from his line and claim. That was half a chance.
49 min Gakpo does well to beat Martinez on the right but then chips a cross too close to the other Martinez, Emi. The Netherlands still haven’t had a shot on target.
49 min “The France ‘98 edition of this matchup is one of my most vivid World Cup memories, so I’m chuffed to see the legendary Edgar Davids coolly observing proceedings from the Dutch bench,” says Peter Oh. “He’s got to be one heck of an assistant coach for the Oranje. They will need his combative qualities in midfield to grind their way back against an abrasive opponent.”
48 min Messi’s corner is headed on at the near post and flashes across the area.
47 min Acuna wins an early corner for Argentina…
46 min Peep peep!
Louis van Gaal has made a double substitution at half-time. Steven Berghuis and Teun Koopmeiners are on for Steven Bergwijn and Marten de Roon.
Half-time reading
Urgent rewrite required
Half time: Netherlands 0-1 Argentina
Peep peep! For all bar five seconds, that was a dismal, tetchy, downright boring 45 minutes. But what a five seconds they were. Nahuel Molina scored his first goal for Argentina after a devastatingly brilliant pass from Lionel Messi, whose World Cup dream is alive and well.
Lionel Messi ➡️ Nahuel Molina!
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) December 9, 2022
Argentina are in front 👏
Watch on @BBCiPlayer or @BBCOne, or listen on @BBCSounds 📺💻🎧#BBCFootball #BBCWorldCup
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45+3 min “Hello Rob, re: Netherlands kits, 2006 is a paragon to be admired for simple elegance,” says Rob Moore. “Quite the opposite of the 2002 Nike pattern. Their 1988 van Basten kit was excellent, too, in all its Arsenal bruised banana & Liverpool Candy-flecked glory.”
Yes 1988 is the ultimate, which I think goes for nearly four figures these days.
45+2 min Another booking, this time for the Dutch substitute Weghorst.
45+1 min The Netherlands appeal unsuccessfully for a penalty, saying Ake was pushed by Acuna as he tried to get to the resulting free-kick. No dice.
There will be five minutes of added time.
45 min Now Romero is booked for a deliberate and slightly bizarre handball just outside the area on the left.
44 min Hang on, Acuna was booked, and rightly so – he stood on Dumfries’ achilles.
Acuna will miss the semi-final if Argentina get there.
43 min Acuna is lucky not to be booked for a really poor tackle on Dumfries. Timber pushes Acuna over and does get booked.
42 min “Somewhere in the world,” says Paul Griffin, “Claudio Caniggia, and the family of Diego Maradona, are nostalgically looking at that pass out of nowhere, and remembering 1990.”
41 min Here’s the greatest moment of Nahuel Molina’s professional life (to date).
Lionel Messi ➡️ Nahuel Molina!
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) December 9, 2022
Argentina are in front 👏
Watch on @BBCiPlayer or @BBCOne, or listen on @BBCSounds 📺💻🎧#BBCFootball #BBCWorldCup
40 min Alvarez angles a sharp pass into Messi on the edge of the area. He has Ake up his derriere but still makes room for a low right-footed shot on the turn that is comfortably saved by Noppert.
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37 min There were three elements to that Messi pass, all nigh-on perfect – spotting it, timing the release and, perhaps most crucially, weighting it. Some of the Messi hype in this tournament has verged on the weird, but that deserves whatever praise you fancy.
It’s Molina’s first goal for his country, and he took it superbly. But we have to start with Messi. He shuffled infield from the right, 35 yards from goal, and suddenly reversed a glorious eye-of-the-needle pass between van Dijk and Blind to put Molina through on goal. He controlled the ball neatly on the run with his left foot and poked it past Noppert with his right.
Updated
GOAL! Netherlands 0-1 Argentina (Molina 35)
Nabuel Molina gives Argentina the lead after a sublime pass from Lionel Messi!
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34 min Tite has resigned as Brazil coach after their defeat to Croatia this afternoon. There’s something savage about the World Cup, isn’t there.
33 min A shot on target! Molina angles a cross back to Messi on the edge of the area. He lays it back to the onrushing De Paul, who sidefoots a first-time shot straight at Noppert.
32 min De Paul nicks a loose ball 35 yards from goal and finds Alvarez. His imaginative reverse pass to Mac Allister is crucially cut out on the edge of the area.
30 min The referee has booked one of the Argentinian coaching staff, possibly out of boredom.
Mateu does have a habit of overacting when it’s not remotely necessary
— Sid Lowe (@sidlowe) December 9, 2022
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29 min The Netherlands are having slightly the better of it now, though it’s still an arm-wrestle rather than a slugfest.
Updated
27 min “I’m supporting Argentina, and not just because I drew them in the work sweepie,” says Simon McMahon. “Alexis Mac Allister - the best Argentinian name since José ‘Joe’ Brown claimed a winners’ medal in 1986.”
26 min It’s Netherlands 0-0 Argentina, and that’s just shots on target.
24 min Bergwijn shoots well wide from the edge of the area after a quick one-two-three with Depay. That was half a chance.
24 min “The Dutch kit is a little hard on the eye,” says Peadar de Burca. “It’s orange, but it’s not, you know orange. Cruyff would be Cruyff-turning in his grave.”
Pele-turning surely?
Pelé vinha do futuro, o MAIOR, MELHOR e não tem jeito.
— memes futebolisticos. - vito (@Mfutebolisticos) November 20, 2021
Que vídeo foda. pic.twitter.com/C5oOI0TBIS
I know what you mean about the kit. For sheer brilliance, they’ll never beat 2006.
22 min Messi shoots over the bar from 25 yards.
21 min Gakpo takes a short corner and lifts a cross that is headed away at the near postl.
21 min Ake waves a pass down the inside-left channel to Depay, who wins the first corner of the game off Otamendi.
20 min I’d love to tell you this is a thriller, but I don’t want to lie to you.
19 min “Argentina play such negative soccer…” says Jeff Sachs. “Hope they lose.”
Updated
18 min The Netherlands are coming into the game, and Martinez has to charge from his line to beat Bergwijn to a through ball.
17 min “I too think this might be the Netherlands’ night,” says Marlon Cameron. “After various approaches to the game have been found wanting (e.g. too many attacking players in Euro 2008, too little actual football as opposed to, ahem, vigour in 2010) could we finally be seeing the cradle of Total Football finding the kind of unflashy but effective system that you don’t notice till it’s taken the tape?”
There will be all sorts of cognitive dissonance if the Netherlands finally win the World Cup playing with three centre-halves and no wingers.
16 min Gakpo’s deep cross is volleyed back across goal by Dumfries towards his fellow wing-back Blind. Romero eases him out of the way, a risky but ultimately fair challenge.
15 min “Every time the World Cup rolls around, I always seek out the Spanish-language channel that’s showing it,” says Michael Day. “This year, NBC’s Peacock has Spanish streaming rights and the coverage is quality. My Spanish is almost non-existent, but the enthusiasm and presentation is always a much more joyful experience. Zero chest-puffing blowhard action. Brilliant.”
I don’t suppose you can take the same approach to text commentary.
13 min De Paul is penalised for what looked a fair, if strong, challenge on Bergwijn. The referee has a word but no more.
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12 min So far, on the NEDARGometer, this is more 2014 than 1998. It’s been really cagey.
11 min Messi has started brightly. He runs across the line of the penalty area and slides the ball towards the overlapping Acuna. He wallops a cross straight out of play on the far side.
9 min “The last time Messi faced VvD, he lost,” says Joe Pearson. “Not a prediction, per se, but an observation.”
Yes but the Netherlands don’t have Andy Robertson to violate him, do they.
Updated
8 min The goalkeeper Noppert plays a risky pass that only just evades the sliding Alvarez.
7 min The Argentina fans are making the usual racket, and their team have been the slightly better team so far.
5 min Messi is already finding space between the lines. He picks up a loose ball just past the centre circle, runs at the Netherlands defence and plays in the overlapping Molina. His cross is cleared to De Paul, whose long-range shot is blocked.
Updated
4 min Gakpo goes down after an off-the-ball collision with Molina. I say ‘collision’, Molina just ran into him. Both men are fine.
4 min Argentina have the extra man in midfield, with Gakpo playing pretty high up for the Netherlands – more false nine than orthodox No10.
4 min It’s just like being there!
Privileged to be here… screen just played a montage of classic Argentina v Holland moments, now this pic.twitter.com/1S5umXcuKd
— Sean Ingle (@seaningle) December 9, 2022
3 min The first half-decent move of the game. Mac Allister scurries through midfield and finds the overlapping left wing-back Acuna, whose low cross is booted clear at the near post.
2 min As expected, Both teams are playing with three centre-backs.
1 min Peep peep! Memphis Depay gets the game under way, with the Netherlands kicking from left to right as we watch.
Updated
“I dunno, Rob, I’m feeling jaded and mildly depressed,” writes Neymar Charles Antaki. “I wanted free-flowing, carefree, attacking football with beautiful moves, stunning skills, and both sides reliving the football of yesteryear that probably never really was. So then Morocco, and Croatia. Wonderful, of course, in their own way; hooray for resoluteness and three cheers for Luka Modrić. But yes I’m still feeling jaded and mildly depressed. Will this one cheer me up?”
Erm, it might?
Will Lionel Messi get No2 tonight?
Here come the players. The crowd is about 95 per cent Argentinian, if that counts for owt.
Five minutes to kick off
Let’s have a reminder of the teams. This time it’s 11-a-side.
Netherlands (3-4-1-2) Noppert; Timber, Van Dijk, Ake; Dumfries, De Roon, F de Jong, Blind; Gakpo; Depay, Bergwijn.
Substitutes: Pasveer, Bijlow, De Ligt, De Vrij, L de Jong, Berghuis, Lang, Klaassen, Malacia, Janssen, Weghorst, Koopmeiners, Taylor, Simons, Frimpong.
Argentina (3-5-2) E Martinez; Romero, Otamendi, Lisandro Martinez; Molina, De Paul, Fernandez, Mac Allister, Acuna; Messi, Alvarez.
Substitutes: Armani, Rulli, Foyth, Tagliafico, Montiel, Paredes, Pezzella, Di Maria, Palacios, Correa, Almada, Gomez, Guido, Dybala, Lautaro Martinez.
Referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain)
“Wow, that Croatia v Brazil game…” writes Rachel Clifton. Have escaped to the pub now to watch the second QF, mostly to avoid Alexi Lalas SHOUTING. ALL. THE. TIME. Fox coverage here is so so dreadful.”
So I hear.
This will be Lionel Messi’s third World Cup quarter-final. He didn’t get off the bench in the defeat to Germany in 2006, which seems absurd with hindsight but wasn’t particularly outrageous at the time. In 2010 he was quiet as Argentina were picked off 4-0 by Germany, and in 2014 he started the move that led to Gonzalo Higuain’s early winner.
“Rob, greetings from California,” says Mary Waltz. “Since they knocked out my eagles I should be bitter but I think the Netherlands will win. The psychological pressure to win one for Messi puts too much pressure on his squad to play naturally, they always look tight.”
One last bit of pre-match reading
Match report: Croatia 1-1 Brazil (4-2 pens)
‘Beautifully pulled down by Bergkamp…’
Yes, yes, I realise I’d put 12 players in the Dutch team. To you, dear reader, and especially to Davy Klaassen, I apologise.
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Remember when Lautaro Martinez was a Golden Boot contender?
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“It may be because I was young at the time and now lack the joy in my heart to be open to new things,” boasts Niall Mullen, “but that 1998 quarter final remains the greatest game of Association Football I have ever seen. Somehow the game itself was bettered by the winning goal which itself was perfectly complemented by Barry Davies’ wonderful commentary.”
If tonight’s game is a stinker, you can always relive that match instead.
Fairytale No2
Fairytale No1
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“This isn’t unique; Brazil never met Argentina in a semi-final,” writes Tenaiji. “Yeah, it happened twice 1974 & 1982, both in Brazil’s favour, but they were playing in a group game following the first round.”
Don’t forget the goalless kickfest in 1978 – that was probably the closest to a semi-final, as a win for either team would have left them needing one point in the last game to reach the final.
You could do a Joy of Six of Brazil v Argentina games that didn’t happen because one or the other let the side down. The ultimate, of course, is the 2014 final: Brazil v Messi in the Maracana. Strange to think they haven’t met at any stage of the World Cup since Maradona’s heist in 1990.
This is a great read
Good morning. Who better to look forward to these quarter finals, back to previous World Cup finals, talk Messi, Maradona, Mbappe, Bellingham, Kane, Neymar and more than Jorge Valdano. Here’s the interview. https://t.co/VO9nwPOdj8
— Sid Lowe (@sidlowe) December 9, 2022
Team news: Argentina switch to a back three
Both teams make one change from their second-round games. Steven Bergwijn replaces Davy Klaassen in the Netherlands team, which presumably means Cody Gakpo will drop back to play as the No10.
Lisandro Martinez comes into the Argentina side in place of Papu Gomez. That should mean a switch from 4-3-3 to 3-5-2, which has jiggered my thesis on Argentina being more Dutch than the Dutch.
Netherlands (3-4-1-2) Noppert; Timber, Van Dijk, Ake; Dumfries, De Roon, F de Jong, Blind; Gakpo; Depay, Bergwijn.
Substitutes: Pasveer, Bijlow, De Ligt, De Vrij, L de Jong, Berghuis, Lang, Klaassen, Malacia, Janssen, Weghorst, Koopmeiners, Taylor, Simons, Frimpong.
Argentina (3-5-2) E Martinez; Romero, Otamendi, Lisandro Martinez; Molina, De Paul, Fernandez, Mac Allister, Acuna; Messi, Alvarez.
Substitutes: Armani, Rulli, Foyth, Tagliafico, Montiel, Paredes, Pezzella, Di Maria, Palacios, Correa, Almada, Gomez, Guido, Dybala, Lautaro Martinez.
Referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain)
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BRAZIL ARE OUT OF THE WORLD CUP!
Och my days. Rodrygo and Marquinhos failed to score, and Croatia – just as in 2018 – have won back-to-back penalty competitions to reach the semi-finals.
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Croatia v Brazil has gone the distance. Join Scott Murray this instant.
Argentina: the story so far
Saudi Arabia 1-2
Mexico 2-0
Poland 2-0
Australia 2-1
Netherlands: the story so far
Senegal 2-0
Ecuador 1-1
Qatar 2-0
USA 3-1
Netherlands v Argentina is a classic World Cup fixture: 1974, 1978, 1998, 2006, 2014 and now 2022. Luke McLaughlin has taken a trip down memory lane, just for you.
The winners of this game will play… actually we still don’t know, because Croatia have just equalised in the 117th minute! Join Scott Murray for the denouement.
Preamble
This World Cup ain’t big enough for both fairtytales. For reasons that would be intelligence-insulting to explain, it will be a tremendous story if either Louis van Gaal or Lionel Messi win the World Cup. But one of them has to leave the competition tonight.
Netherlands v Argentina is such a tough game to call. Both have looked good at times, particularly when scoring silky team goals against the USA and Poland respectively. But at others – especially against Ecuador and Saudi Arabia – they’ve looked a level below the big boys.
Neither team has played an elite opponent yet, so we’re still not sure how good they are, or how realistic it is to speculate that Van Gaal or Messi will win the World Cup. Over the next two hours – don’t be surprised if it’s three – we might find out.
Kick off 7pm GMT, 10pm in Qatar, 8pm in Amsterdam, 4pm in Buenos Aires
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