The Netherlands then went in front in the 10th minute, when Memphis Depay received a ball from the right from Denzel Dumfries and finished into the left corner of the net after a sequence of passes.
[5] In added time in the first half, Daley Blind made it 2–0 for the Dutch with another low finish, receiving the ball on the right from Dumfries for his second assist of the game.
In the 76th minute, the United States pulled a goal back when Haji Wright finished with a deflection from Christian Pulisic's looped cross at the far post.
[9] Australia pulled a goal back in the 77th minute when Craig Goodwin's strike took a huge deflection off Enzo Fernández and ended up in the right corner of the net.
[13] After Olivier Giroud missed a chance for France in front of goal off a cross from Ousmane Dembélé, Poland nearly opened the scoring later in the first half when Piotr Zieliński saw two close-range shots blocked in quick succession.
In the 44th minute, Giroud received a pass from Kylian Mbappé before firing low to the right corner of the net to put France into the lead, in the process also breaking the all-time French scoring record with his 52nd goal for the nation.
In added time in the first half, reigning World Cup Golden Boot winner Harry Kane made it 2–0 with his first goal of the tournament, firing into the net from the right after a pass from Phil Foden.
After Marko Livaja's effort struck the post, Mario Pašalić scored the winning spot kick with a low shot to the left, as Croatia won the shoot-out 3–1.
With ten minutes left and leading by three goals, Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson was substituted for third-choice keeper Weverton, making Brazil the first team to ever use 26 different players play time in one World Cup.
[31][32] Spain became just the second team to fail to convert a single attempt in a World Cup penalty shoot-out, after Switzerland lost to Ukraine in 2006 by exactly the same scoreline at the very same phase.
[39] Brazil created the majority of the game's chances, forcing Croatian keeper Dominik Livaković into eleven saves, the most in a single match at the tournament.
A defensive lapse then cost Brazil their lead, as Bruno Petković equalised for Croatia three minutes from the end; after picking out Mislav Oršić's cross on the left flank, he fired a shot into the corner of the net that took a deflection off the leg of Brazilian defender Marquinhos.
The sides had faced off five previous times in World Cup matches; a 4–0 win for the Dutch in the second group stage in 1974 was replied to with a 3–1 Argentine victory in the 1978 final.
[42] Nahuel Molina opened the score for Argentina after 35 minutes, when he received a through ball in traffic from Lionel Messi and flicked it low past advancing goalkeeper Andries Noppert.
Argentina controlled the majority of the thirty-minute period, which saw Enzo Fernández strike the post in its dying moments, but the sides could ultimately not be separated and thus entered a penalty shoot-out, just as they had in 2014.
[44] In the shoot-out, Argentine goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez saved both of the Netherlands' first two attempts from Virgil van Dijk and Berghuis, as Argentina scored twice to earn a 2–0 advantage.
After Fernández missed the chance to send his side through with their fourth penalty, Lautaro Martínez scored Argentina's subsequent spot kick to end the shoot-out 4–3 in their favour and progress to the semi-finals.
[48] Spanish referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz received criticism for his failure to control the match, with many fans and media outlets considering his yellow cards to be too lenient for some instances that could have seen players sent off, while other incidents were ignored altogether.
[55] In the first half, Youssef En-Nesyri would put Morocco in front after 42 minutes when he jumped highest from a Yahia Attiyat Allah cross to head past advancing goalkeeper Diogo Costa and into the empty net, followed by Bruno Fernandes' attempted equaliser just before half-time striking the bar from long range.
[56][57] Despite late Portuguese chances from João Félix, Ronaldo and Pepe, and the dismissal of Moroccan defender Walid Cheddira following two yellow cards in quick succession, Morocco would hold on to win 1–0.
[60] Aurélien Tchouaméni opened the scoring for France in the 17th minute, with a shot from outside the penalty area to the left corner which beat England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford diving down to his right.
Just moments after seeing his volley saved by Pickford, Olivier Giroud, who himself entered the match as France's all-time top scorer, also scored his 53rd international goal twelve minutes from time, with a header to the left of the net after a cross from Antoine Griezmann.
Referee Daniele Orsato booked Livaković and awarded a penalty kick to Argentina, which Lionel Messi converted high into the top right corner of the goal.
The collision also sparked a feud between Orsato and some Croatia players, causing Mateo Kovačić to be booked and the sending off of assistant coach Mario Mandžukić.
[69] Messi's goal from the penalty spot was his eleventh at a World Cup, taking him ahead of Gabriel Batistuta as Argentina's most prolific goalscorer in the competition.
Théo Hernandez would give France an early lead in the fifth minute, netting an acrobatic volley from a tight angle on the left after Kylian Mbappé's shot was diverted into his path.
[73] Olivier Giroud would hit the post for France, before Moroccan captain Romain Saïss was forced to withdraw after 21 minutes, having been a doubt to start the match after going off injured in the quarter-finals.
[74] France's 2–0 victory set up a final against Argentina, putting them one win away from becoming the first nation to successfully defend the World Cup since Brazil won the 1958 and 1962 editions.
Croatia went in front with an early goal, after defender Joško Gvardiol diverted a diving header into the top left corner of the net in the seventh minute, assisted via a headed pass from Ivan Perišić.
French coach Didier Deschamps was attempting to become the second manager to win multiple World Cup titles, and the first since Vittorio Pozzo in 1934 and 1938 with Italy.