Argentina and Netherlands battle after shootout as tie descends into chaos

The Argentine and Dutch stars were embroiled in a mass brawl after the South American side secured their place in the semi-finals of the World Cup on Friday night. Argentina won the match after a penalty shootout to set up a semi-final showdown with Croatia.

Argentina dominated the early stages of the match at the Lusail stadium and took the lead after 35 minutes as Nahuel Molina finished well after being dragged down by Lionel Messi. Messi then doubled his country's advantage 17 minutes from time by striking from the penalty spot.

But the Netherlands had no intention of going down without a fight and pulled a goal back with a strike from former Burnley striker Wout Weghorst seven minutes from time. And Weghorst sensationally forced the equalizer in extra time after scoring in the 11th minute of added time from a clever free kick.

The teams battled it out for the extra 30 minutes and neither was able to find the killing blow as the match ended in a shootout. And Argentina came out on top after Virgil van Dijk and Steven Berghuis missed out on the European squad.

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The game turned out to be a heated affair throughout the full 90 minutes of regulation time as some members of the Dutch backstage team rushed onto the pitch after the players clashed. And the confrontation descended into chaos after Argentina took the win, with members of both teams arguing and clashing angrily.

Argentina overcame the Netherlands when they lifted their first World Cup trophy in 1978. And they also toppled the country in the 2014 semi-finals by booking a final showdown with Germany , before finishing second. And their latest victory means they have now booked a final four-legged clash with 2018 runners-up Croatia, who beat Brazil after another penalty shoot-out earlier on Friday night.

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“What an amazing game, considering it took 33 minutes for our first effort to fit. It just went crazy," former England striker Alan Shearer told the BBC after the game.

And former Argentina star Pablo Zabaleta added: "Argentina were the best team. The last 10 minutes we had to play better, we gave away free kicks which gave the country a chance -Bas. It's always good to see a South American team in the semi-finals. The fans were amazing tonight, right behind the team. All of Argentina's games, three quarters of the stadiums were Argentinian fans. It makes me really proud. Qatar is far from Argentina - it's not easy to get here.”