Key events
Wout Weghorst is in tears, lying head down on the pitch. His two late goals brought Netherlands back from the dead, but they didn’t go in for the kill in extra time. Ultimately the hero was not Weghorst but Emi Martinez, who made two quite brilliant penalty saves.
It was a really good penalty from Lautaro Martinez, who calmly sent Noppert the wrong way. For the second time, Louis van Gaal’s Netherlands have gone out on penalties to Argentina. Meanwhile, the two benches are having yet another fracas, though it’s hard to see exactly what is happening.
Full time: Netherlands 2-2 Argentina (3-4 pens)
Argentina will play Croatia in the semi-final on Tuesday after finally overcoming the Netherlands.
PENALTIES: Netherlands 3-3 Argentina
Luuk de Jong keeps the Netherlands alive. But now it’ll be Lautaro Martinez, with the chance to put Argentina in the semi-finals.
PENALTIES: Netherlands 2-3 Argentina
Fernandez shoots just wide of the left-hand post! It’s not quite over yet.
PENALTIES: Netherlands 2-3 Argentina
Weghorst scores! Then there’s a row between Timber and one of the Argentina players. It’s been such an ill-tempered game. But if Enzo Fernandez scores, Argentina will be through.
PENALTIES: Netherlands 1-3 Argentina
Montiel scores! Argentina are one more Martinez save away from the semi-finals.
PENALTIES: Netherlands 1-2 Argentina
Koopmeiners scores emphatically to keep the Netherlands in with an outside chance.
PENALTIES: Netherlands 0-2 Argentina Paredes whacks an excellent penalty into the left-hand corner, and Argentina are already on the brink of the semi-finals.
PENALTIES: Netherlands 0-1 Argentina
Martinez makes an even better save from Berghuis! He saved three in the Copa America against Colombia, and now he’s doing it again. It was a pretty good penalty, hammered low to Martinez’s left, but Martinez guessed right and beat it away.
PENALTIES: Netherlands 0-1 Argentina
Lionel Messi scores, cockily sending Noppert the wrong way.
PENALTIES: Netherlands 0-0 Argentina
Martinez saves brilliantly from Van Dijk!
The Netherlands will go first. Virgil van Dijk, to be precise.
Argentina beat the Netherlands 4-2 on penalties in the 2014 semi-final, with Ron Vlaar and Wesley Sneijder missing. Traditionally, Argentina have a much better record in shootouts than the Netherlands, who were eliminated on penalties in 1992, 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2014.
Whichever team loses this will have all sorts of regrets – Argentina for wobbling in the face of Total Longball, the Netherlands for not killing Argentina off in the first period of extra-time.
Full time: Netherlands 2-2 Argentina
And after all that, it goes to penalties.
ET: 120+1 min: Fernandez hits the post! Dear me. The corner was taken short and worked to Fernandez, 25 yards out. He took a touch and pinged a sweet shot across goal that beat Noppert and rebounded off the outside of the post.
ET: 120 min: Di Maria almost scores from the corner! He smashed it towards the near post, deliberately I think, and Noppert leapt to push it over.
ET: 120 min The Netherlands area hanging on desperately. Messi’s shot from the edge of the D takes a deflection and rolls a few yards wide.
ET: 119 min The lively Lautaro Martinez rolls Timber neatly on the edge of the D and hits a rasping left-footed drive that is punched away by Noppert, diving to his right. Good save.
ET: 119 min You couldn’t call this a great game, but it will certainly live in the memory as a kind of disgusting classic.
ET: 118 min A good inswinging cross from Lang is confidently claimed by Emi Martinez, with Berghuis waiting behind him to score.
ET: 116 min I have no idea where Argentina have found this burst of energy. Di Maria’s outswinging corner is headed over at the near post by Pezzella, a half chance at best.
ET: 115 min It’s Argentina who are pushing for the winner. Fernandez’s long-range shot hits Weghorst before bouncing over the stranded Noppert and onto the roof of the net! Dear me, that was so close.
ET: 114 min: Chance for Argentina! Di Maria zips round the back on the right and arrows a cutback towards Lautaro Martinez, whose sweet first-time shot hits Van Dijk in the breastbone and flies behind for a corner. I don’t think it was going in, though I wouldn’t bet the farm on it.
ET: 113 min Netherlands bring on Noa Lang for Cody Gakpo.
ET: 113 min: Chance for the Netherlands! Gakpo lookps the free-kick towards the unmarked Luuk de Jong, whose volley is crucially blocked by Fernandez.
ET: 112 min Gakpo charges forward and is challenged strongly by Pezzella. He gets the ball but scissors Gakpo afterwards. Another yellow card, the 15th of the game I think.
ET: 111 min Another Argentina substitution, and an attacking one: Angel Di Maria replaces Lisandro Martinez.
ET: 110 min Messi take a short free-kick on the right, then shimmies infield towards the edge of the area. “Here we go, here we go,” says the BBC commentator Jonathan Pearce, at which point Messi picks out the man in Row F.
ET: 109 min Argentina are having more of the ball now. I’m not sure what’s happened to the Netherlands in extra time. Maybe they’re just shattered. Meanwhile, the referee has booked Montiel for dissent, which means he’ll miss the semi-final if Argentina get there. That’s the 74th booking of the game.
ET: 108 min “Rob, we need to dwell on that Dutch free kick,” says David Griffiths. “Reminded me very much of the Argentine free kick trick vs England in 1998. Could we say the Dutch out-Zanettied the Argentines there?
That’s a good comparison. I think this one was even better because Koopmeiners played the pass infield, which is much harder to pull off. Zanetti’s finish was even better than Weghorst’s, though.
