The Round of 16 started with a bang as Netherlands and Argentina smashed their way to victory. With respective winning scores of 3-1 and 2-1, they will be going against each other in the quarter-finals.
The Netherlands VS USA match started with USA dominating possession and playing aggressive in attack. In the first three minutes, Christian Pulisic missed a golden chance for USA with a scuffed shot saved by Andries Noppert. Instead it was the Netherlands who took the lead thanks to Memphis Depay in the 10th minute.
With this goal, Depay scored his 43rd international strike and is now second place in the all-time standings for the Dutch national team, passing Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.
While Netherlands took the lead, USA did not let up in their attack. In the 43rd minute of the game, Tim Weah took a chance with rasping shot only for Noppert to parry it away. By the end of the first half, it was still 1-0.
As the second half started, Daley Blind scored for Netherlands. It was then a hard fight for USA but they managed to ignite some hope with an unexpected goal helped with an accidental touch on the ball by Haji Wright in the 76th minute.
Unfortunately, this goal was not enough to boost the team as Netherlands secured their win with Denzel Dumfries scoring the third goal in the 81st minute.
The Argentina and Australia game started aggressive as both teams fought for the opener. It was Lionel Messi that scored the lead for Argentina. This marks Messi’s first ever goal in a World Cup knockout and the 789th goal in his 1,000th career appearance.
Australia turned up the heat searching for an equalizer, but at the end of the first half, the score was 1-0. During the second half of the game, Australia keeper, Matthew Ryan tried to make a pass only for it to open a chance for Julian Alvarez to slip in for a goal.
With a score of 2-0, things were looking tough for Australia as they fought to stay in the game. It was in the 76th minute that Australia reduced the deficit when Goodwin scored. It was a tense last 15 minutes but Argentina defended well and secured a spot in the quarter-finals.
