Argentina will face the Netherlands in the quarter-finals of the World Cup at the Lusail Iconic Stadium on Friday night. The quarter-final will be a repeat of the classic 1998 quarter-final which the Dutch won courtesy of a Dennis Bergkamp 90th-minute winner. The two nations also faced each other in the 2014 semi-finals – a game Argentina won on penalties.
To Win Match
Netherlands 49/20 | Draw 22/10 | Argentina 5/4
To Qualify
Netherlands 12/10 | Argentina 6/10
The Netherlands, three-time runners-up, are bidding to end their wait for a first World Cup trophy as they push to win the Qatar 2022 tournament.
The Dutch navigated their way past hosts Qatar, Ecuador and Senegal in the group stages, finishing top of Group A with seven points from three games.
Louis van Gaal’s side then faced the United States in the round of 16 and secured progression with an impressive 3-1 victory. Memphis Depay and Daley Blind scored in the first half and Denzel Dumfries added a late goal for the Oranje.
Depay has been the focal point of attack for the Dutch, but the Barcelona forward only has one goal to his name thus far.
Netherlands will depend on Cody Gakpo for the goals as the forward has been one of the best players in the tournament and amongst the top when it comes to the goal charts. Gakpo has three goals so far at this World Cup.
At the back, Virgil van Dijk and Nathan Ake will be tasked with building a wall to deny Lionel Messi and co a chance at goal.
Argentina reached the quarter-finals after leading Group C and beating Australia 2-1 in the round of 16 to set up a quarter-final clash with Netherlands.
The Dutch will no doubt be a stiff challenge for Argentina, but confidence is high that Lionel Scaloni’s side can go all the way in Qatar and finally provide Messi with the World Cup trophy that he craves so much before the curtain comes down on his incredible career.
Messi, who has three goals to his name, is the favourite to open the scoring at 4/1 and is priced at 33/20 to score at any time in this fixture. With Messi on the pitch, the Albiceleste will more than fancy their chances of making it into the semi-finals.
The focus of Argentina’s attentions in the coming days will be getting Angel Di Maria fit after he was forced to miss the Australia win. Scaloni will be desperate to have the veteran winger back to replace Papu Gomez and complete his attack, with Julian Alvarez set to maintain his spot in the XI to join Messi.
Verdict: Argentina (5/4)
Argentina have the edge when it comes to talent, and maybe a moment of magic will settle this.
