Lusail(AP/PTI): Lionel Messi's quest to win the World Cup moves into the semifinals after Argentina beat the Netherlands 4-3 in a penalty shootout on Friday.

Messi converted his penalty in the shootout and Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Mart nez saved two attempts. Lautaro Martinez scored the clinching penalty.

The match finished 2-2 after extra time, with Messi scoring one goal and setting up another. The Netherlands equalized in the 11th minute of second-half stoppage time.

Argentina will play Croatia in the semifinals on Tuesday after the 2018 runner-up beat Brazil earlier on Friday.

It is only the second time Argentina has reached the last four since 1990. In 2014, Messi was part of the team that lost to Germany in the final.

He looks in the mood to get there again in a tournament that he is turning into his own personal highlight reel.

When Lautaro Martinez's penalty hit the net, Messi didn't head to the striker unlike the rest of the team but sprinted to his goalkeeper and jumped into his arms.

Messi had produced a mesmerizing piece of skill to set up the opening goal for Nahuel Molina in the 35th minute and then converted a penalty in the 73rd to make it 2-0 with his fourth goal of this year's World Cup.

It took him to 10 goals in the World Cup, tied with Gabriel Batistuta for the most for Argentina, and 94 goals in total in his 169 international games.

The game was taken to extra time after a goal deep in second-half stoppage time by Wout Weghorst, who entered as a substitute in the 78th and made it 2-1 five minutes later.

It was the latest second-half goal scored in a knockout-stage game at a World Cup and was cleverly worked, with Teun Koopmeiners feinting to curl a free kick into the area only to play it short and deceive the Argentine defense. Weghorst took a touch, held off his marker and slotted home a finish on the stretch.

Thed game featured 17 yellow cards, including one for Messi, who had blood coming from his upper lip at one stage.

Enzo Fernandes hit the post near the end of extra time and was the only Argentina player to fail to score in the shootout.

The loss ended 71-year-old Louis van Gaal's third stint in charge of the Netherlands.

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Amritsar, Jan 16 (PTI): The SGPC on Thursday wrote to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, seeking a ban on the release of Kangana Ranaut's movie 'Emergency' saying it "tarnishes" the image of Sikhs and "misrepresents" history.

Actor and BJP MP Ranaut's 'Emergency' is slated to release in cinemas on January 17.

In the letter to Mann, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee chief Harjinder Singh Dhami expressed strong objection to Ranaut's film.

Dhami said that if the film is released in Punjab, it will spark "outrage and anger" in the Sikh community and therefore it is the responsibility of the government to ban its release in the state.

The SGPC, an apex gurdwara body, had earlier also protested the film.

"It has come to our attention that the movie 'Emergency' produced by BJP MP Kangana Ranaut is going to be released on 17th January 2025 in cinemas in different cities of Punjab and the tickets have also started to be booked," its letter to Mann read.

Dhami said the SGPC had also protested the release of the movie in a letter to the Punjab Chief Secretary on November 14 last year.

"But it is sad that the Punjab government has not taken any step till now. If this film is released on January 17, 2025, then it is natural to create outrage and anger in the Sikh world," the current letter read.

Dhami said the SGPC will submit a letter also to all the deputy commissioners in Punjab, seeking a ban on the film in the state.

The SGPC denounced the "character assassination" of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the Khalistani militant killed in 1984 in a military operation.

"If this film is released in Punjab, we will be forced to strongly oppose it at the state level," Dhami said.

In August last year, the SGPC sent a legal notice to the producers of the 'Emergency' film, alleging that it "misrepresented" the character and history of Sikhs, and asked them to remove the objectionable scenes depicting "anti-Sikh" sentiments.

In the notice, the producers of the film, including Kangana Ranaut, were asked to remove the trailer released on August 14 from all public and social media platforms and tender a written apology to the Sikh community.

The SGPC objected to film writing separate letters to the Minister of Information and Broadcasting and the Central Board of Film Certification.