At the expense of Australia and the United States, two titans of football will meet for a heavyweight quarter-final bout in the 2022 World Cup.
Argentina, courtesy of goals from Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez, edged past the spirited Socceroos to earn a 2-1 victory while strikes from Memphis Depay, Daley Blind and Denzel Dumfries gave the Netherlands a comfortable enough 3-1 triumph over the USMNT in the round of 16.
An eye-capturing contest carrying World Cup history between La Albiceleste and Die Oranje now awaits in the last eight, but how have the two nations fared against each other previously?
These two famous footballing nations have met just nine times in the past, with the Netherlands boasting the better numbers. The Europeans have won four of those nine encounters against Argentina while the South Americans have been triumphant three times, with two draws.
Die Oranje enjoyed early success against the Argentines, winning their first ever meeting – a friendly just prior to the 1974 World Cup – 4-1. When it came to the actual tournament, the two sides met in the second round with the Netherlands enjoying an even more emphatic 4-0 victory over La Albiceleste on their way to the final.
World Cup bragging rights between the two nations would be firmly handed over to Argentina four years later, however. The two sides’ next encounter came in the 1978 World Cup final, in which the South American outfit ran out 3-1 winners after extra time to earn their first global triumph and condemn the eternal bridesmaids to their second of three World Cup final defeats.
The Netherlands would go on to fall to a penalty-shootout defeat to Argentina in a commemorative match to mark the 75th anniversary of FIFA in 1979, although did knock them out of the 1998 World Cup with a 2-1 quarter-final victory – an omen, perhaps?
After that, a 1-1 draw and a 1-0 Netherlands win in international friendlies set up two more World Cup meetings – the two sides’ most recent clashes.
In 2006, the countries couldn’t be separated as they played out a 0-0 draw in the group stage (both progressed with seven points). Argentina relied on a penalty shootout to knock the Dutch out of the 2014 World Cup at the semi-final stage before losing in the final.
Netherlands vs Argentina H2H record
As you’ve gathered, over half of the meetings between the Netherlands and Argentina have happened at the World Cup. While the numbers are all square – both sides have won two against the other at football’s premier…
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