LUSAIL, Qatar — Argentina almost did it the easy way. For a while, Lionel Messi and his teammates were sailing smoothly into the World Cup semifinals. And then, all of a sudden, they were not. They got there in the end, thanks to a victory over the Netherlands in a penalty shootout, but they had to suffer for it first.
With a few minutes to play in front of a typically boisterous, partisan crowd at Lusail Stadium, Argentina was on course for a double victory. It led the Dutch by two goals, one created by Messi and the other a penalty converted by him.