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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Tom Blow

Argentina fans waste no time as thousands react to shock Brazil exit at World Cup

Argentina fans were spotted celebrating Brazil's shock World Cup exit ahead of their victory against the Netherlands on Friday night.

The pre-tournament favourites were knocked out after losing on penalties to Croatia at the Education City Stadium in Friday's opening game. Rodrygo and Marquinhos missed for Brazil, while the 2018 runners-up scored all four of their spot kicks in the shootout.

Argentina supporters were clearly delighted at the result, as it means they don't have to face their South American rivals in the semi-finals of the tournament in Qatar. And they were even happier after Lionel Messi inspired them to a shootout win against the Dutch.

Brazil were expected to beat unfancied Croatia in their World Cup quarter-final due to their contrasting starts to the tournament. The Selecao were sensational in their 4-1 win against South Korea in the last 16 - having also beaten Serbia and Switzerland.

Croatia, meanwhile, won just one of their three group games - finishing second in the table behind Morocco - and laboured to a penalty shootout win against Japan in the last 16. Despite this, Zlatko Dalic's underdogs managed to overcome the favourites.

The game was goalless until the stroke of half-time in added-time when Neymar scored a sublime goal to give Brazil the lead and equal Pele's record of 77 goals for the South American country. Yet a late goal from Bruno Petkovic sent the tie to penalties.

Argentina fans were delighted with Brazil's World Cup exit ahead of their game against the Netherlands (Getty Images)

What do you make of Brazil's shock World Cup exit? Let us know in the comments below!

The rest, as they say, is history. News of Brazil's unexpected defeat filtered through to the Argentinians inside the Lusail Stadium, who were waiting patiently for their team's clash against the Netherlands. They duly celebrated by singing, drumming and dancing.

Argentina's night went from good to great a few hours later when they defeated Netherlands in a close game. Messi, their talisman and captain, was the primary reason for their success. He set up Nahuel Molina's opening goal before scoring a penalty.

"He [Messi] has been making the difference for 15 years at the top top level," Rio Ferdinand told the BBC. "The cutting edge of football. He's a fantastic footballer - when it comes to games that need to be defined, he takes on the responsibility of that and he enjoys that.

"He’s a phenomenal footballer. You see whenever he gets the ball, the whole stadium stands up... the pass [assist] defies physics. It’s a phenomenal pass, it had to be perfect and it was.

"The first touch once he gets the ball is great, this bit here where he separates himself from Ake, how he sees this pass, Blind has to get inside Molina. The pass was absolutely sublime."

Argentina's place in the semi-finals seemed assured until Wout Weghorst came off the bench to score a late brace to send the game into extra-time and subsequently penalties. Yet Emi Martinez made two brilliant saves in the shootout to win the game.

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