Last 16: Argentina 2-1 Australia
The stars were in Messi’s favor in a physical last-16 clash with Australia, as he surpassed Maradona’s World Cup tally by scoring in his 1,000th match.
The goal was vintage Messi, almost as if time had stopped for everyone except the 35-year-old, who reacted quickly to a short layup in little space to curl the ball home, even as Australia The four defenders tried to close the gap.
Álvarez made it 2–0 but a Fernández own goal set up a tense finish in which Argentina held on for the win.
Messi said, “Now we have a tough competition with Holland, who play very well. They have great players and a great coach, it’s going to be a tough match.”
His words proved prophetic.
Quarter-finals: Netherlands 2-2 Argentina (3-4 on penalties)
Four goals, an equalizer at the death, controversy with the team bench empty, a tense penalty shootout, allegations of unsportsmanlike conduct, 16 yellow cards and one red card – the Netherlands-Argentina game had it all.
In a battle between the youngest and oldest coaches at the World Cup, Scaloni (44) came out on top against Louis van Gaal (71), who brought in 6-foot, 6-inch striker Wot Weghorst to bring football back to practicality. Abandoned purity. To torment the defense
Messi was front and center again, with a pass from an impossible angle to set up the opener for Nahuel Molina and then converted a penalty, but not before taking the match to extra-time after a clever free kick routine Weghorst went home.
Shell-shocked Argentina recovered from a last-gasp equalizer and goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez made two saves in the shootout before Lautaro Martinez ended things for the Dutch to end a poor game.
Bad blood spread in the tunnel as well, with lots of words exchanged. But when things calmed down, Messi said: “Diego (Maradona) is watching us from heaven. He is pushing us and I hope it will be like that until the end.”