Argentina in their 15 appearances at the World Cup have twice been crowned champions. In search of their third title they face familiar foes Germany in the World Cup 2014 final.
For the record third time Argentina will be up against Germany in the final of World Cup. Argentina may not have played swashbuckling kind of football, but have been impressive with every passing game. Here we take a look at round by round performance by Argentina and how they made it to the final.
Group Stage:
Argentina had Bosnia, Iran and Nigeria as their group rivals. In their opening game against Bosnia Sead Kolasinac and Lionel Messi’s goals gave Argentina an early lead to win by 2-1.
Iran kept them on their toes for major part of the game and it was only with Messi’s goal in the additional minutes that Argentina went on to win 1-0. Messi’s two goals and then Marcos Rojo’s winner in 50th minute sealed the deal for Argentina against Nigeria. Argentina remained unbeaten and thus topped Group F.
Round of 16:
Argentina faced Switzerland in round of 16 clash. The game went into an extra time after goalless full time. Angel Di Maria’s lone goal in the 11th hour with assistance from Messi handed his team a 1-0 victory and a place in the last 8.
Quarter-final:
In quarter-finals Argentina faced Belgium. Gonzalo Higuain netted a goal in the 8th minute and helped his team dominate the proceedings early on. Belgium were kept at bay by Argentine defence and could not find an equalising goal. A 1-0 win here meant Argentina face Netherlands in the semi-final.
Semi-final:
Both Argentina and Netherlands failed to register a goal after 120 minutes of play and winner was decided on penalties. Argentina goal keeper Sergio Romero was star for his side as he saved two penalty kicks. For Argentina, Lionel Messi, Ezequiel Garay, Sergio Aguero and Maxi Rodríguez converted all of their penalties to win by 4-2 margin.
Trivia: Argentina have so far scored only seven goals in six matches with 61 attempts on target. Captain Lionel Messi is their top scorer with four goals and has one assist to his name.
