Oranje overcame USA 3-1 in their round of 16 encounter on Saturday, while Argentina got the better of Australia 2-1 to keep their hopes of glory alive.
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Old Foes Netherlands and Argentina will go head-to-head in a FIFA World Cup quarter-final fixture at Lusail Stadium on Friday night. Oranje overcame USA 3-1 in their round of 16 encounter on Saturday, while Argentina got the better of Australia 2-1 to keep their hopes of glory alive. Both sides haven’t managed to produce their A-game thus far in the tournament, but have come out with some effective and professional game plan to reach the last 8 in Qatar. Up to 88,000 fans at the Lusail Stadium will be hoping that the two of the big guns of world football don’t repeat their drab goalless encounters at the 2014 and 2006 tournaments, and it appears unlikely after the two teams scored a conceded in their last-16 victories.
#SelecciónMayor ¡Nuevo día de acción! 💪 ⚽️
Trabajando duro para nuestro próximo desafío 🎯#TodosJuntos 🇦🇷 #MásJuntosQueNunca 😍 pic.twitter.com/mUn3Kt43Qv
— Selección Argentina 🇦🇷 (@Argentina) December 6, 2022
Netherlands boss Louis Van Gaal will be pleased to see his wing-backs coming to the fore in the first knockout match against USA, after a cold group stage. Right-wing-back Denzel Dumfries provided identical assists for identical goals for Memphis Depay and Daley Blind in the first half. Meanwhile, in the second half, left-wing-back Blind turned provider for Dumfries to volley home and settle the match. Indeed, Oranje have now reached the last eight in four of their last five World Cup tournaments, and they have progressed to the semi-finals in both 2010 and 2014 before miserably failing to qualify for the 2018 edition in Russia.
Argentina, on the other hand, finished runner-ups in the 2014 edition in Brazil before losing out to France in the round of 16, four years later. Meanwhile, this time around, La Albiceleste are touted to be the favourites to lift the trophy despite starting off with a surprise 2-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia in their opener. Lionel Scaloni’s side won two of their three group games to advance to the last-16 as group-winners and then defeated Australia 2-1 in their first knockout round match of the tournament. Lionel Messi, who was playing his 1000th career match broke the deadlock with his trademark finish, inside the opening 35 minutes, before Julian Alvarez doubled the lead with a 57th-minute strike. Although the Socceroos pulled one back courtesy of a deflected strike by Craig Goodwin, the South American champions managed to hold on to the slender lead and secured a spot in the last-8.
Netherland full-back Jeremie Frimpong injured his ankle during the win against USA, but the Bayer Leverkusen-man is reportedly fit for the quarter-final match. Virgil van Dijk, Nathan ake and Jurrien Timbers are expected to form the back-three, with Dumfries and Blind occupying the flanks. Frenkie de Jong is going to pull the strings in the midfield with Marten de Roon in support. Memphis Depay, who has 43 international goals to his name in 85 appearances for the Oranje, is expected to spearhead the attack alongside Klaasen and Cody Gakpo. As for Argentina, winger Angel di Maria, who missed the previous match because of a hamstring problem, is likely to return to the starting eleven, joining Messi and Alvarez up front. Although there were reports about Rodrygo de Paul’s fitness, the Atletico Madrid-man has announced that he will be available for Friday’s game.
Netherlands probable starting lineup: Noppert, Timber, Van Dijk, Ake, Dumfries, De Jong, De Roon, Bling, Klaasen, Gakpo, Depay
Argentina probable starting lineup: E. Martinez, Molina, Romero, Otamendi, Acuna, Fernandez, De Paul, Mac Allister, Di Maria, Alvarez
Netherlands
| Opponents | Score |
| USA | 3-1 (W) |
| Qatar | 2-0 (W) |
| Ecuador | 1-1 (D) |
| Senegal | 0-2 (W) |
| Belgium | 1-0 (W) |
Argentina
| Opponents | Score |
| Australia | 2-1 (W) |
| Poland | 0-2 (W) |
| Mexico | 2-0 (W) |
| Saudi Arabia | 1-2 (L) |
| UAE | 0-5 (W) |
| Last 5 match results (all competitions) | Score |
| Argentina beat Netherlands | 1-0 |
| Netherlands draw Argentina | 0-0 |
| Netherlands beat Argentina | 1-0 |
| Netherlands draw Argentina | 1-1 |
| Netherlands beat Argentina | 2-1 |
The FIFA World Cup match between Netherlands and Argentina will take place at Lusail Stadium on Saturday at 12:30 am IST.
| Netherland vs Argentina | Key Details |
| Date | December 9 |
| Venue | Lusail Stadium |
| Kickoff time in India | 12:30 am (Saturday) |
| Kickoff time in Netherlands | 8:00 pm (Friday) |
| Kickoff time in Argentina | 4:00 pm (Friday) |
| Kickoff time in Qatar | 10:00 pm (Friday) |
The FIFA World Cup in Qatar can be seen on Sports18 – 1 SD & HD – in India. Sports 18 will be telecasting the games on the regular and HD Channels. Besides, Viacom18 Sports announced that Jio Cinema will live-stream all the World Cup games. Besides, the match between Netherlands and Argentina can be seen on NPO network in Netherlands; and DeporTV, TyC Sports Play, Television Publica and DirecTV Sports network in Argentina.
