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Argentina and the Netherlands finalized the first quarterfinal matchup at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar on Saturday.
The Dutch's 3-1 victory over the United States men's national meant they became the tournament's first quarterfinalist.
Argentina rode goals from Lionel Messi and Julián Álvarez into the final eight, as it eliminated Australia in Saturday's second game.
The quarterfinal showdown between the European and South American sides marks the sixth time they have faced each other in the World Cup. In their last meeting, Argentina eliminated the Dutch in the 2014 semifinals on penalties.
Over the next three days, the Dutch and Argentinians will be joined by six other teams in the final eight. England and France can book their places in the quarterfinals on Sunday.
Saturday's Results
Argentina 2, Australia 1
Argentina methodically put away Australia to earn its fourth quarterfinal berth in the last five World Cups.
Lionel Messi used a moment of magic in the 35th minute to put the Albiceleste in front. Messi continued his run from the left wing after a failed free kick and slotted home through a pair of defenders and into the back of the net.
Messi's 35th-minute tally was his first-ever goal in the World Cup knockout stages. That statistic was hard to believe since he has been an integral part of Argentina's national team for over a decade.
Julián Álvarez padded the lead in the 57th minute after some disastrous decision-making by Matt Ryan in front of the Soccerros goal. Ryan kept the ball at his feet too long and allowed the pressure by Rodrigo De Paul and Álvarez to force him into a mistake.
Álvarez's goal ended up meaning more to Argentina once the Aussies found the back of the net in the 77th minute. Craig Goodwin lashed a shot from outside the box and took a deflection on its way past Emiliano Martinez.
The tally eventually went down as an Enzo Fernandez on goal, but that was all the Aussies could muster, despite some late pressure, against an Argentinian defense that came into Saturday with two straight clean sheets.
Messi and Co. will try to make it back to the semifinals with a win on Friday that could set up an all-South American clash with Brazil in the final four. Brazil plays South Korea and then the Japan-Croatia winner if it wins in the Round of 16.
Netherlands 3, United States 1
The Netherlands ended the United States' run in Qatar with a few attacking moves that capitalized on mistakes by the American back line.
Memphis Depay put the Dutch in front in the 10th minute, when he ran into a pocket of space at the top of the box and easily beat Matt Turner.
The Oranje defended for most of the first half after Memphis' opening strike. They doubled their advantage right before halftime, as Daley Blind beat Sergiño Dest to a ball that came off a Netherlands throw-in.
The Americans controlled the possession battle in the first half, but they only had two significant chances in the first 45 minutes. Christian Pulisic missed a golden opportunity in the opening minutes and Timothy Weah had a shot from distance turned away before the second Dutch goal.
The Americans were more progressive in the final third in the second half thanks to the additions of Gio Reyna, Brenden Aaronson and Haji Wright.
Wright put the Americans on the scoreboard in the 76th minute with a goal off his back heel. The tally came minutes after Wright blew a potential open goal with a poor first touch.
The USMNT's hope did not last long, as Denzel Dumfires scored in the 81st minute on another defensive breakdown by the Americans. Dumfries was one of the best Dutch players on the field inside the Khalifa International Stadium.
The Dutch advanced to at least the semifinals in their last two World Cups in 2010 and 2014. A win over Argentina would get them there for a third straight appearance when qualifying for the World Cup, after shockingly missing out in the 2018 edition.
Sunday Schedule
France vs. Poland (10 a.m. ET, FS1)
England vs. Senegal (2 p.m. ET, FS1)
Canada's men's national soccer team went on a strike over player compensation ahead of a friendly against Panama on Sunday.
Westhead shared a copy of the letter outlining the players' requests, which includes a 40 percent share of World Cup prize money:
Canada Soccer confirmed the match has been canceled:
The timing of the news couldn't have been much worse for supporters who planned to attend the friendly.
In terms of pushing for meaningful change, the leverage for the men's national team has probably never been higher than it is now.
Whereas Canada's women's team has been a World Cup mainstay and sits sixth in the FIFA ranking, the men will be competing in their first World Cup since 1986 when they make the trip to Qatar later this year.
That has only raised expectations for Les Rouges in 2026, when Canada will be co-hosting the World Cup with Mexico and the United States.
The men's national team wrote how it hoped punching a ticket to the 2022 World Cup "would bring a level of respect and financial opportunity that could raise the standards & opportunities for the next generation of players in our country and change the trajectory of soccer in Canada forever."
The team also said that "Canada Soccer signed an agreement with Canadian Soccer Business that has completely compromised their ability to leverage the on-field success of our senior national teams."
Sunday's strike follows a similar dispute between the U.S. women's national team and U.S. Soccer. The women contended there was a wide gulf between their earnings and that of the men despite the USWNT winning back-to-back World Cups in 2015 and 2019.
The yearslong fight finally reached a conclusion in May, with U.S. Soccer signing collective bargaining agreements with the USMNT and USWNT that guaranteed equal pay, including uniform payouts from the World Cup.
Ukraine is one win away from qualifying for the 2022 World Cup after a 3-1 win over Scotland in Wednesday's playoff semifinal.
After winning in a road environment in Hampden Park in Glasgow, Scotland, Ukraine will now travel to face Wales in Cardiff on Saturday with the winner earning a ticket to Qatar.
The UEFA qualifying playoff was initially scheduled to take place in March, but it was postponed because of Russia's military invasion of Ukraine. The national team didn't return to the pitch until participating in a friendly in May.
Ukraine came out strong against Scotland and earned a win thanks to goals from Andriy Yarmolenko, Roman Yaremchuk and Artem Dovbyk.
The visiting team came out with a lot of energy and created several quality attempts before finally breaking through in the 33rd minute. Yarmolenko beat the back line and came through with an outstanding finish to give his side the 1-0 advantage:
Early in the second half, Ukraine doubled the lead on a header from Yaremchuk:
Though Scotland has a roster featuring several Premier League players, the squad was thoroughly outplayed for much of the match.
Ukraine controlled 58 percent of possession and had eight shots on goal, compared to just four for Scotland.
There was still drama late as Scotland finally got on the scoresheet in the 79th minute. Callum McGregor took advantage of a mistake from goalkeeper Georgiy Bushchan to cut the margin to 2-1.
Scotland still couldn't find the equalizer, and Ukraine finally sealed it in the 95th minute:
The squad will try to keep the momentum for four more days with Wales looming in the final round of the playoff.
Wales defeated Austria in the previous round behind two goals from Gareth Bale.
The Czech Republic men's soccer team announced Sunday that it will not face Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.
"We unanimously approved the decision that the Czech national team will in no case enter the event against the selection of Russia in the qualification round of the World Cup 2022," the team said in a statement, per Jacob Whitehead of The Athletic.
The two teams could face each other in a World Cup playoff March 29. Russia is scheduled to face Poland on March 24, while the Czech Republic has a matchup with Sweden.
Poland and Sweden had already announced that they will not participate in any match against Russia.
As the top-seeded team of the four, each of Russia's matches would take place in Moscow. But its three potential opponents have now said they won't face Russia, even in neutral territory.
The winning team from this bracket would earn one of UEFA's final three spots for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Ukraine is also competing in the qualifying playoffs, matched up against Scotland, Wales and Austria.
FIFA, world football's governing body, has yet to make any changes to the qualifying schedule.
"We continue to monitor the situation," FIFA President Gianni Infantino said Thursday. "We will update on the World Cup qualifiers soon. We can take decisions immediately as soon as it’s needed."
Russia qualified for the 2018 World Cup as the host country, reaching the quarterfinals after an upset win over Spain in the round of 16. The team is 35th in the latest world rankings.
Mexico's men's soccer team is back on the medal podium at the Olympics after a 3-1 victory over Japan in the bronze-medal match on Friday.
The Mexico squad has wrapped up a fantastic two-week run in Tokyo to earn their first medal since 2012. They finished second in Group A, with their lone defeat in the round-robin stage coming against Japan on July 25.
After taking Brazil to a shootout in the semifinals, the defending Olympic gold medalists ultimately prevailed over Mexico 4-1.
With the opportunity to avenge their earlier defeat against the Japanese team, the Mexican squad took an early advantage on Francisco Cordova's penalty kick in the 13th minute.
Johan Vasquez extended the lead for Mexico in the 22nd minute with a header off of Sebastian Cordova's beautifully placed free kick.
Coming out of the intermission, El Tri put the match away when Alexis Vega got the ball past Japanese goalie Kosei Tani for a 3-0 lead.
Mexico's goalie Guillermo Ochoa had a busy day keeping out an aggressive Japan squad, but he more than held up his end of the bargain.
Japan held the ball for 58 percent of the match, more than doubled Mexico's total shots and had a 6-4 edge in shots on target.
Despite the statistical edge, Japan's only goal came in the 78th minute from Kaoru Mitoma.
This is a disappointing end to the tournament for Japan after a hot start. The host team had the second-best goal differential after group play (plus-six) and won its first four matches to reach the semifinal undefeated.
Following a 1-0 loss to Spain in extra time, Japan's offense once again struggled to break through in the bronze-medal match on Friday.
After a disappointing ninth-place finish at Rio de Janeiro in 2016, Mexico rebounded this time around to earn its second Olympic medal in the past three Games.
The last two gold-medal winners of the Olympics men's soccer tournament won their respective quarterfinal matches on Saturday to set up a semifinal showdown.
Brazil and Mexico won in two different types of matches to produce a CONCACAF vs. CONMEBOL clash with a spot in the gold-medal match on the line.
Brazil eked past Egypt with a lone goal from Matheus Cunha, while Mexico powered past South Korea and scored six in a nine-goal thriller.
The Selecao and El Tri have been two of the best sides in Japan, and that should make the semifinal match one of the best events of the entire Summer Olympics.
Japan and Spain won the other two quarterfinal matches. Spain scored three goals in extra time to get past the Ivory Coast. Japan knocked out New Zealand on penalties.
Men's Soccer Quarterfinal Results
Spain 5, Ivory Coast 2 (AET)
Japan 0, New Zealand 0 (Japan wins 4-2 on penalties)
Brazil 1, Egypt 0
Mexico 6, South Korea 3
Semifinal Schedule
Tuesday, August 3
Brazil vs. Mexico (4 a.m. ET, NBCSN)
Japan vs. Spain (7 a.m. ET, NBCSN)
Brazil 1, Egypt 0
Brazil continued its gold-medal defense with a victory over Egypt.
The Brazilians did not score as freely as they did in the group stage, but they got the job done against the second-placed side from Group C.
Matheus Cunha delivered the breakthrough for the Selecao in the 37th minute from wide-open space at the top of the penalty area.
Richarlison set up the Hertha Berlin player with an assist from the left side of the field. The Everton man found a pocket of space between two defenders to pick out Cunha for his second goal of the competition.
Brazil's defense finished off the victory from that point on. The back four held the Egyptians to two shots on goal over 90 minutes.
Egypt finished the tournament with two goals scored from four matches. Both of those tallies came in the group-stage finale against Australia.
When Brazil won the gold on home soil in 2016, it recorded five consecutive clean sheets on the way to the gold-medal game.
Brazil's defense in Japan has not been that strong, but it has two clean sheets in four matches and conceded on multiple occasions in a single game.
The Brazilian back line will have to be organized to handle the threat of Mexico, who could not stop scoring against South Korea.
Mexico 6, South Korea 3
Mexico steamrolled South Korea in the highest-scoring men's soccer match of the Olympics.
Henry Martin and Sebastian Cordova both bagged a brace for El Tri to move one win away from a guaranteed medal.
Martin opened the scoring in the 12th minute, and he found the back of the net again in the 54th minute.
Mexico thought it gained enough separation late in the first half when Cordova knocked in a 39th-minute penalty kick.
South Korea battled back at the start of the second half through a 50th-minute strike from Lee Dong-Gyeong.
In the following 13 minutes, Martin and Cordova each scored their second goals to give El Tri a three-goal advantage.
Cordova's strike from distance rattled off the bar and dropped into the net. That strike seemed to finally break South Korea's spirits.
Eduardo Aguirre finished off Mexico's victory with an 84th-minute strike. South Korea scored late in second-half stoppage time, but that goal did not matter to the final result.
Mexico last qualified for the men's semifinals in 2012, when it went on to beat Brazil in the gold-medal match at Wembley Stadium.
The Hungary national team will have to play three UEFA-sanctioned matches in an empty stadium due to racist chants and homophobic banners displayed by supporters at Euro 2020, according to Sky Sports.
The Hungarian Football Federation also received a fine of €100,000.
The punishment will apply to Hungary's next two matches, though it won't apply to any World Cup qualifiers since those are overseen by FIFA. The Magyars are scheduled to host England (Sept. 2) and Andorra (Sept. 8) on home soil in a pair of qualifiers.
The third stadium ban is suspended for two years and pending behavior from fans at future fixtures.
Hungary played its first two matches of Euro 2020 at Puskas Arena in Budapest.
The homophobic banners were displayed as the team lost 3-0 to Portugal on June 15. UEFA said it was also looking into monkey chants that were performed by home supporters as Hungary drew 1-1 with France on June 19.
Hungary closed out the group stage at Munich's Allianz Arena.
To draw attention to an anti-gay law that made its way through Hungarian parliament, the Munich city council proposed lighting the Allianz Arena's exterior in the colors of the rainbow. UEFA denied the request, a decision that Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter called "shameful."
Hungary isn't the only national team that was recently punished for anti-gay behavior by live supporters. FIFA issued a two-match stadium ban to Mexico that will apply to World Cup qualifying.
