Netherlands vs Argentina Preview

Argentina and the Netherlands will fight for a place in the 2022 FIFA World Cup semi-final when they meet at the Lusail Iconic Stadium this Friday.

Louis van Gaal’s men booked their place in this round of the tournament thanks to an impressive 3-1 win over the USA last time out. Despite enjoying less possession than the Americans, The Oranje showed their maturity and experience in the game, picking out their counterparts in the first, second and third trimesters of the game.

That win extended the Netherlands’ unbeaten record to 19 games (W15, D5 with 16 of those fixtures seeing them score first. They have scored 2+ goals in 14 of their last 19 games and look like a team prepared to win their first-ever World Cup.

Meanwhile, Argentina booked their place in this round of the World Cup thanks to a 2-1 win over Australia in the last round. That win made it three wins in a row for the Albiceleste, who had started their World Cup campaign with a shocking 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia.

They will now look to formally put their disappointing round-of-16 exit in 2018 behind them and make it back-to-back quarter-final wins over the Netherlands having won against them in 2014.

Given the quality in their ranks, Lionel Scaloni’s men will fancy their chances of getting a good result here. The Argentine coach who described this clash with Van Gaal as “a proud moment”, has also stated his side are ready for any challenge.

The Albiceleste are sharp in attack, having scored 2+ goals in eight of their last ten games while their defence has kept four clean sheets in their last six games.