[6] Van Gaal stated to Dutch publication Nederlandse Omroep Stichting: "Messi is indeed the most dangerous player who creates the most chances and also makes them himself.

"[8] Argentine goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez later stated that he screenshotted Van Gaal's comments on his phone and referred to them frequently as motivation.

[9] Dutch goalkeeper Andries Noppert told reporters days before the match that he felt confident in beating Messi from the penalty spot.

There were some heated exchanges between both sets of players, and questionable refereeing calls by Antonio Mateu Lahoz, with both teams criticizing him post-match.

Both teams had dominant spells, with Argentina coming close to creating a chance several times but being stopped by a disciplined Dutch defense.

Argentina forward and captain Lionel Messi then cut through the Dutch defense with a precise pass to assist Nahuel Molina for the first goal of the night.

[13] The half was relatively incident free but the game started getting more antagonistic from the 43rd minute onwards when the first yellow card was handed to Dutch center-back Jurriën Timber, which was quickly followed by a trio of yellow cards for his team-mate Wout Weghorst, who was on the bench at the time, as well as Argentines Cristian Romero and Marcos Acuña, who received his second caution of the tournament and was thus rendered unavailable for the semi-finals.

[14] Messi celebrated the goal by cupping his hands around his ears in front of the Dutch bench, which was considered a jibe toward Van Gaal.

The gesture was reminiscent of a goal celebration sometimes used by former Argentina player Juan Roman Riquelme, whose relationship soured with Van Gaal when they were both at Barcelona in the early 2000s.

[17] As the Dutch players searched for a crucial goal, tempers rapidly flared as Memphis Depay and Lisandro Martínez both received yellow cards.

During the 100th minute, a free kick was awarded to the Netherlands just outside the box, giving the side one final opportunity to draw the match level.

Argentina pressed on, creating several chances, and coming closest to scoring a goal when a shot by Enzo Fernández hit the goalpost.

The advantage would be restored by Gonzalo Montiel, whose penalty gave Argentina a 3–1 lead and made the game match point for the Dutch.

[21] As Lautaro Martínez started walking from the centre circle, he was accompanied and harassed by several Dutch players, particularly defender Denzel Dumfries, who was given a yellow card for unsporting behavior.

[24] Despite the mind games of the Dutch, Lautaro Martínez would still score, securing the 4–3 total and giving Argentina their second consecutive victory over the Netherlands in penalty shootouts.

[27] However, the team would be without full-backs Marcos Acuña and Gonzalo Montiel, who would have to miss the next round due to yellow card accumulation throughout the tournament.

[30] The Telegraph wrote that the post-match interviews continued the "aggressive" nature of the game, with Messi snapping at the Dutch camp as he talked.

[15][34] Messi would tell reporters after the match that he felt disrespected by Van Gaal's pre-match comments and stated, "some Dutch players spoke too much during the game".

[6] He further criticised the Netherlands' tactics in the second half, stating "Van Gaal says that they play good football, but what he did was put on tall people and hit long balls."

"[18] The publication's Tom Morgan also wrote about the heated nature of the game: "on a feisty night full of tantrums, Argentina kept launching toys out of their pram even as Lautaro Martínez thrashed in his winner to send them through 4–3 on penalties.

Mateu Lahoz also overlooked a potential handball by Messi, while the length of the injury time added was considered excessive by some media outlets.

To be unkind, he had an absolute shocker – brandishing his yellow card with abandon ratcheted up tensions considerably, and by the time he finally showed red to Dumfries, he had long since lost all control.

Luuk [de Jong] just wins a normal header and he blows his whistle, they kick the ball into our dugout, he doesn't care.