DOHA: Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez saved two penalties to help Argentina beat the Netherlands in the FIFA World Cup quarter-final penalty shootout and set up a semi-final against Croatia.

The Dutch rallied on Friday at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar to tie the game at the very last minute and force overtime, but they lost the ensuing penalty shootout.

Argentina lost a two-goal lead with seconds remaining due to the late comeback, making Lionel Messi's magic of setting up a goal and then scoring from the penalty spot essentially meaningless.

As he attempts to win the biggest trophy in football in his fifth participation at the World Cup, Messi has now tied Gabriel Batistuta with 10 goals overall for Argentina and may break the record in the semifinal and final or third-place game.

Argentina appeared to be on track for a 2-0 lead when Messi calmly converted a penalty in the 73rd minute after supplying Nahuel Molina with an incredible pass to score in the 35th.

However, after coming on as a substitute, Wout Weghorst headed the Dutch back into the game in the 83rd minute. He then forced extra time with an incredible free-kick trick play 11 minutes into stoppage time, scoring with the game's final kick.

The second quarterfinal of the day's second round was decided by a penalty shootout after 30 minutes of extra time failed to break the 2-2 tie.

While Lautaro Martinez secured the victory for Argentina, Martinez was the shootout hero by saving the first two Dutch penalties from captain Virgil van Dijk and Steven Berghuis.

If he participates in the final two contests, Messi will break the all-time World Cup match record. On Friday, he competed in his 24th match, trailing the record-holder, Lothar Matth of Germany, who has 25 bouts.

Tuesday will see the Copa America champions take against Croatia after the 2018 runners-up surprised the five-time champions Brazil 4-2 on penalties following a 1-1 tie after 120 minutes.

The Dutch lost in a shootout against Argentina, exactly as they did in the 2014 semi-finals, and failed to advance to the final four for the third time in four editions.

As La Albiceleste drew away to win the thrilling match, Messi takes the lead in the celebrations.
On Saturday, Ronaldo's Portugal will play Morocco in the first quarterfinal encounter, and England will play France in the second.

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