Sheer drama in the World Cup quarter-final matches on Friday. While Croatia with Josip Stanišić went through to the semi-finals, as in 2018, after 120 exciting minutes with a 4-2 victory on penalties against Brazil, the Netherlands with Matthijs de Ligt lost 4-3 on penalties to Argentina in spite of a battling performance.
Croatia show no nerves
Stanišić returned to the Croatia squad in the afternoon but did not play. The match against the title favourites had few real threats on goal but there was plenty of excitement. Neymar appeared to have scored the winner in extra time for the five-time World Cup winners (105+1') but Bruno Petković levelled (117') to force the penalty shootout. All four Croatia players scored from the spot while Rodrygo and Marquinhos missed the target for the South Americans.
No rewards for Netherlands comeback
In the night game, the Netherlands, with FCB central defender de Ligt not featuring, appeared to be on their way out after goals from Argentina scored by Nahuel Molina (35') and Lionel Messi (73', pen.) but they fought back with two late strikes from former Bundesliga player Wout Weghorst (83', 90+11') to level with almost the last kick of the game. There were no goals in extra time so it came down to penalties. The first two Dutch players Virgil van Dijk and Steven Berghuis failed to convert and the South American side went on to win 4-3. Croatia now take on Argentina on Tuesday night (20.00 CET) for a place in the final.
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