The Netherlands will battle Argentina for a place in the 2022 FIFA World Cup semi-final when both sides meet at the Lusail Iconic Stadium this Friday.
Venue: Lusail Iconic Stadium (Lusail)
Key Statistics
The Netherlands are unbeaten in their last 19 games (W14, D5).
They have scored 2+ goals in 14 of their last 19 games.
The Oranje have scored first in 16 of their current 19 games without defeat, drawing the three fixtures in which they conceded the opener.
Argentina have scored 2+ goals in eight of their last ten games.
They have kept seven clean sheets in their last ten games.
The Albiceleste have accumulated 11 half-time leads from their 13 fixtures this calendar year (W11, D1, L1).
World Cup trivia: The last two World Cup winners (France and Germany) were runners-up 12 years prior. The Netherlands finished second in 2010.
Head to head
In five World Cup head-to-head meetings between both sides, Argentina have two wins, both after extra time and penalties, while the Netherlands have two wins that came in normal time.
Latest performances in all competitions
Netherlands: W-W-D-W-W
Argentina: W-W-W-L-W
Netherlands
The Netherlands made light work of the USA last time out to book their place against Lionel Messi and his exciting Argentina side.
Louis van Gaal’s side beat the USA 3-1 last time out to show how far they have come since their poor showing in the European championship last year. Goals from Memphis Depay, Daley Blind and Denzel Dumfries in the first, second and third trimesters of the game gave them a dominant 3-1 win.
After the game, the Netherlands manager Louis van Gaal bragged about his side’s “big chances” of winning their first World Cup trophy. The 71-year-old veteran manager has enough reason to be hopeful given his side’s form going into this game.
The Oranje are unbeaten in 19 games (W15, D5) and have scored first in 16 of those fixtures. There’ll be plenty of personal motivation for Van Gaal too, as he has previously stated that a World Cup title is the only remaining goal of his 30-year managerial career.
He was in charge of the Dutch in their 2014 semi-final penalty loss to the Albiceleste and will be hoping to put the records straight this time in front of the 88,000 fans at the Lusail Stadium.
Possible Netherlands starting line-up
Andries Noppert, Jurrien Timber, Virgil Van Dijk, Nathan Aké, Denzel Dumfries, Marten De Roon, Frenkie De Jong, Daley Blind, Davy Klaassen, Cody Gakpo, Memphis Depay.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Argentina
Despite losing their first game of the Qatar World Cup–an embarrassing 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia–Argentina are still in Qatar after four games.
The Albiceleste since losing that game have been in good form, winning their last three, including a narrow 2-1 win over Australia last time out.
That win over the Socceroos earned them a place in this quarter-final, which is their fourth quarter-final appearance from the last five World Cups.
They can now formally put 2018’s disappointing round-of-16 exit behind them and make it back-to-back quarter-final win over the Netherlands having won them in 2014.
They have the quality and confidence to do so too at both ends of the pitch. The goal they conceded in their 2-1 victory over Australia last time out was registered as an own goal, so they can also boast that no opposing player has breached their defence in their three consecutive wins. The Albiceleste are also sharp in attack, having scored 2+ goals in eight of their last ten games.
The sense of occasion for this match has not been lost on manager Lionel Scaloni, who described this clash with Van Gaal as “a proud moment”, but declared his side are ready for any challenge: “my players are born to play in these sorts of games”. Scaloni will hope his men will step up and exert their quality on this Dutch side that have proven difficult to break down in recent games.
Possible Argentina starting line-up
Emiliano Martinez, Nahuel Molina Lucero, Nicolas Otamendi, Cristian Romero, Marcos Acuña, Rodrigo De Paul, Alexis Mac Allister, Enzo Fernández, Angel Di Maria, Lionel Messi, Julián Álvarez.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Odds
| Odds-Netherlands | Odds-Argentina | % Netherlands | % Argentina | |
| To qualify | 2.370 | 1.570 | 39.55 | 60.45 |
| In 90 mins | 3.750 | 2.150 | 24.05 | 41.94 |
| In Extra-time | 15.000 | 10.000 | 6.01 | 9.02 |
| In Penalty | 9.500 | 9.500 | 9.49 | 9.49 |
Prediction
Netherlands 1-1 Argentina (90 minutes)
Live Stream
For details, FIFA Qatar World Cup 2022 – TV Broadcast / Live Stream
