December 9, 2022 World Cup news and highlights

Argentina broke through during a tightly contested opening period, and it carries a 1-0 lead into halftime.

A crowd dominated by supporters of La Selección roared in approval every time their talisman Lionel Messi touched the ball in the first half.

That turned to utter pandemonium when the 35-year-old superstar fed a pass to Nahuel Molina in the 35th minute. Molina drove it into the back of the net, scoring his first international goal and putting his side on top.

The Dutch head to the locker room trailing Argentina, which was considered the slight favorite entering the quarterfinal matchup.

Nahuel Molina scored in the 35th minute to give Argentina a lead over the Netherlands in their quarterfinal match.

It followed a perfectly placed pass from star Lionel Messi.

This is Molina's first goal for Argentina in his 25th appearance.

Pressure is on the Dutch for an equalizer.

Argentina 1 - 0 Netherlands

Argentina is facing Netherlands for a spot in the semifinals. The winner of this match will play against Croatia, the team that won earlier on Friday.

Lionel Messi and Argentina are three games away from winning the World Cup, but against the Netherlands they will face their toughest test of the tournament so far.

This quarterfinal at the Lusail Stadium is a compelling matchup.

Data insight company Nielsen has Argentina as the favorite with a 58% chance of progressing, but neither side has had the chance to test itself against one of the tournament’s top teams.

These teams have their share of World Cup history:

They last met in the semifinals eight years ago – a goalless game that Argentina ultimately won on penalties. Prior to that, they contested knockout games in the 70s and 90s.

Several key protagonists remain from the 2014 encounter. For the Netherlands, Louis van Gaal has returned as manager and veteran left-back Daley Blind is still a key part of the national team, while Messi remains Argentina’s talisman and most potent attacking threat.

Key players:

Much of the spotlight, as ever, will be on the 35-year-old Messi, who has been central to Argentina’s best moments of the tournament so far.

The Netherlands have looked impressive going forward through Cody Gakpo, who has three goals to his name this World Cup, and Memphis Depay, who finished off a wonderful move against the USA in the last 16.

Which squad will advance to the semifinals to face Croatia, which shocked former tournament favorite Brazil in the early game? We'll find out soon.

Brazil, the favorite to win this year’s World Cup, is out of Qatar 2022 after losing to Croatia on penalties 1-1 (4-2) in Friday’s dramatic quarterfinal.

See some of the teams' reactions on the field:

The Netherlands takes on Argentina today at 2 p.m. ET for a spot in the semifinals. Here are the starting squads for each team:

The Netherlands

Goalkeeper: Andries Noppert

Defenders: Jurriën Timber, Virgil van Dijk, Nathan Aké

Midfielders: Memphis Depay, Marten de Roon, Daley Blind, Denzel Dumfries, Frenkie de Jong

Forward: Steven Bergwijn, Cody Gakpo

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Argentina

Goalkeeper: Damián Emiliano Martínez

Defenders: Cristian Romero, Lisandro Martínez, Nicolás Otamendi

Midfielders: Rodrigo De Paul, Marcos Acuña, Alexis Mac Allister, Enzo Fernández, Nahuel Molina

Forwards: Julián Álvarez, Lionel Messi

Julián Álvarez has had a dream year. In just a few months, he went from the Argentine soccer fields to the European ones, to end up shining in his World Cup debut with Argentina's team.

The 22-year-old has been key in the performance of the Albiceleste, scoring one goal in the match against Poland and one against Australia in Qatar.

"You can see the how he works with humility," Argentine coach Lionel Scaloni said in August of Álvarez before going to Qatar. "He is a boy who has things very clear and he is going to contribute to his team and he is going to contribute to us, and that is good."

Álvarez, who is from Cordoba, is fulfilling a childhood dream: to play shoulder to shoulder with his childhood idol, Lionel Messi, with whom he made his debut and scored his first goal with Argentina in a 1-1 draw with Ecuador in March this year in a World Cup qualifying match.

"Messi has been my idol since I was a child," he told Manchester City's website before his arrival. “He is the idol of my family, the idol of my brothers too. So Messi is a hero for me."

Now, in Qatar, he was key on the field to lead Argentina to the quarterfinals — playing as a starter, either as a striker or right center, along with figures such as Ángel Di María, Rodrígo de Paul, Nicolás Otamendi and Lionel Messi himself.

The Cordoba striker was called up by Lionel Scaloni in 2021 and since then he has participated in four friendly matches, six World Cup qualifiers and the four World Cup games so far.

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Lionel Messi and Argentina are three games away from winning the World Cup, but facing the Netherlands will be their toughest test of the tournament so far.

Friday’s quarterfinal at the Lusail Stadium is a compelling match-up. Both teams have had blips in Qatar – Argentina a surprise defeat against Saudi Arabia and the Netherlands a draw against Ecuador – and both are hoping to reach the final four for the first time since 2014.

But much of the spotlight, as ever, will be on the 35-year-old Messi, who has been central to Argentina’s best moments of the tournament so far — even in the twilight of his career.

“He doesn’t have the capacity to do the running that [Paulo] Dybala in the team would do, but he’s a genius and he’s going to win you games,” sports scientist Simon Brundish told CNN Sport.

Indeed, attention has been drawn to the amount Messi has walked during Argentina’s games at the World Cup – slowly working himself into space before bursting into life to fashion scoring opportunities.

Brundish explained that the amount Messi walks also speaks to Argentina’s defensive organization. “Argentina set up their system around him not being involved in the press,” said Brundish. “They’re not a high pressing team anyway … It’s never been part of Messi’s game and his role doesn’t involve that.”

But Argentina will be hopeful its master playmaker can add to his goals tally by unlocking the Netherlands’ three-at-the-back defense.

Data insight company Nielsen has Argentina as favorite in the quarterfinal with a 58% chance of progressing, but neither side has had the chance to test itself against one of the tournament’s top teams.

Croatia is heading for its second successive World Cup semifinal after beating Brazil in a penalty shootout (4-2), following a 1-1 tie in extra time.

In a World Cup full of shocks and upsets, Croatia has joined the list of giant killings in Qatar.

Brazil completely dominated the match, but was unable to break down a stubborn Croatian defense or get past Dominik Livaković — who once again was the penalty shootout hero as he saved Rodrygo's first penalty.

After Croatia scored all four of its penalties, it was Marquinhos who missed the all important penalty, crashing his low shot off the post. Neymar, who was presumably waiting to take the fifth penalty, did not even get a chance to take a penalty.

After a goalless 90 minutes, Brazil finally broke down the Croatian defense through its talisman Neymar. The PSG forward played a series of cute interchanges with his teammates before rounding the keeper and finishing into the roof of the net.

There was always a sense that Croatia would get that one chance, and it finally came in the 116th minute when Bruno Petković's deflected strike brought Croatia level.

All of Croatia's knockout wins in 2018 came after extra time and this year the team has done it again, first beating Japan and now Brazil. It seems they can't be beaten!

Croatia will now meet the winner of the Argentina vs Netherlands match, which begins at 2 p.m. ET Friday.