Argentina captain Lionel Messi said defending champions France and Brazil are the favourites to win the World Cup in Qatar as they have a core group of players who have played together for a long time.
For Argentina players and captain Messi, who netted twice in the 120 minutes before also scoring in the shoot-out, it was the biggest title of their careers.
Lautaro said Argentina dominated the match against the Saudis and did not deserve to lose, having three goals ruled out for close offside calls by VAR.
Lionel Messi says Argentina have felt the presence of the late, great Diego Maradona throughout their World Cup campaign, including on Friday when they beat the Netherlands on penalties to reach the semi-finals.
Argentina look set to keep Julian Alvarez in attack for Sunday's World Cup final
Real Madrid's Karim Benzema, who won the 2022 Ballon d'Or award, is also in the shortlist.
A threatening message was left for Lionel Messi at a supermarket belonging to the family of Antonela Roccuzzo, the Argentine captain's wife.
Argentina are on a 36-match unbeaten run with top scorer and captain Messi playing his fifth and last World Cup in search of the elusive honour
A stunning bicycle kick from Antonio Sanabria and a second-half header from Omar Alderete gave Paraguay a well earned 2-1 home win over Argentina.
Many flocked to Buenos Aires's tattoo parlors to commission designs depicting Lionel Messi.
The comparison with Maradona for the title of the greatest Argentine player of all time cannot be complete without a world title, which the late Maradona won almost single-handedly 36 years ago.
Racing Santander came from a goal down to beat Real Madrid 2-1 with two controversial second-half penalties.
Saudi Arabia, FIFA's 51st ranked team and who have suffered 5-0 and 8-0 World Cup defeats down the years, roared back to claim an astonishing 2-1 victory that will go down as one of the greatest shocks in any sport ever.
Argentina clinched a comfortable win in a friendly against Indonesia, making it two wins from two for the world champions on their short tour of Asia.
The three match-ups which are likely to have a strong bearing on the result in Sunday's FIFA World Cup final.
Argentina won their first major title in 28 years on Saturday after Angel Di Maria's goal gave them a 1-0 win over Brazil and a record-equalling 15th Copa America, at Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Saturday.
Messi's World Cup chase takes centre stage in quarter-final clash
Neymar injured as Brazil lose 2-0 in Uruguay
'We wanted to compensate for the defeat (against Saudi Arabia). Today it was a great game, we played very well collectively'
Lionel Messi, so often the key man for Argentina, paid tribute to Martinez.
The Argentine forward's glittering resume has one major omission -- a World Cup winner's medal.
Stopping the stars won't be enough to win World Cup
Argentina finished their 2021 Copa America campaign unbeaten. Lionel Scaloni's side finished top of their group with three wins and a draw against Chile. In the quarter-final, they beat Ecuador 3-0 to progress to the final four.
Messi has spoken at length about the dream of winning a title with Argentina and his compatriots know how much an international trophy means to him.
Here is what you need to know about their route to the final
Shot-stoppers who turned into showstoppers during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The forward was again the stand-out Brazil player and he coolly side-footed home his 60th international goal in the 76th minute after Diego Laxalt brought down Danilo, although Uruguay claimed there was a handball in the build-up.
Messi's image is everywhere, adorning the sides of buildings.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday.
Messi was Argentina's key man in their 1-0 win.
Argentina lose to Brazil in Copa America semis
Brazil fought back from a goal down to score three times in the second half and record a 3-1 win over Venezuela that maintained their 100 percent record in qualifying matches for the 2022 World Cup.
But if the five-times World Player of the Year is feeling frustrated by his mini-drought -- and his reactions on the pitch suggest he is -- his worries pale in comparison to Dybala's unhappy start to the season.
'Whenever I talk with Leo, we always say 'Pray that one day it happens for us'. It's what he wants and it's what we all want. I put myself in his shoes and I want to do the best'
A summary of Thursday's World Cup qualifiers.
Roger Martinez scored an outstanding goal as Colombia beat Argentina 2-0 in an exciting finale to a Copa America Group B opener on Saturday that burst into life after a sluggish start.
Didier Deschamps of France and Argentina's Lionel Scaloni should avoid the temptation to throw on a 'penalty specialist'
A World Cup qualifier between Argentina and Brazil was suspended amid farcical scenes on Sunday after Brazilian health authorities accused a number of Premier League players of violating the country's COVID-19 quarantine rules.
Eight years is a long time in the life of an athlete. But just like Messi, Di Maria has preserved and persisted towards his childhood dream, points out Deepti Patwardhan.
Earlier in the day, Bolivia beat Venezuela 3-1 at home and Uruguay and Paraguay drew 0-0 in Montevideo.
