A thrilling World Cup 2022 quarter-final takes place at the Lusail Iconic Stadium tonight, as the Netherlands look to kick out a promising Argentina side.
After an applaudable 3-1 victory over the USA, Louis van Gaal’s men booked their spot in the last eight, while the South American champions overcame Australia 2-1 to keep their dream of lifting the trophy alive.
There is no doubt that Lionel Scaloni will be putting his best efforts to fire his team into the semi-finals and with the help from his main man Lionel Messi, the 44-year-old coach should be feeling confident.
Scoring a total of three goals so far this tournament, only two behind leading top scorer Kylian Mbappe, Messi will be looking to pass this test in flying colours, however he must be aware that his opponents could throw a spanner in the works.
The Netherlands will look to get revenge for elimination from the 2014 World Cup semi-finals which saw Messi along with Ezequiel Garay, Sergio Aguero and Maxi Rodriguez all score in the mouthwatering penalty shoot-out.
Another fear the Copa America winners may have is that the Netherlands have lost just one of their nine meetings with the Argentines in all competitions (W4, D4), with that loss coming in the 1978 World Cup final.
Will the Netherlands get in the way of Messi lifting his first and last World Cup trophy?
talkSPORT EDGE takes a look…
- This will be the sixth World Cup meeting between Netherlands and Argentina, with only Brazil against Sweden (7) and Argentina against Germany (7) being played more often in the competition
- The last two World Cup meetings between Netherlands and Argentina have finished 0-0, in the 2006 group stages and the 2014 semi-final
- Since losing the 1930 final against Uruguay, each of Argentina’s last nine eliminations from the World Cup knockout rounds have come against European nations, including a 2-1 loss to Netherlands in the 1998 quarter-final
- Netherlands have progressed from their last three World Cup quarter-final matches (1998, 2010, 2014), with their only defeat at this stage coming in 1994 against eventual winners Brazil
