Cyrille de la Morinerie 8:18 a.m., December 9, 2022, modified at 8:20 a.m., December 9, 2022

Argentina face the Netherlands in the quarter-finals of the World Cup this Friday, a poster reminiscent of a match as "awful" as "incredible", during the final of the competition in 1978. At the time, the Argentinians had dominated the field in an atmosphere that still raises questions.

The FIFA World Cup in Qatar begins its quarter-final stage on Friday.

If it is Brazil and Croatia who open the ball at 4 p.m., the Netherlands and Argentina follow suit from 8 p.m., a meeting to be followed in full on Europe 1 Sport from 7:15 p.m.

It is a historic poster, which will bring back good memories to football fans of 1978. At the time, the two nations faced each other in the World Cup final in Buenos Aires.

It was at home that the Argentinians won their first trophy.

"An awful game"

This legendary match was especially tense, long before the first whistle.

Two hours before the match, the Monumental stadium in the capital was already packed.

There was a very special atmosphere there.

"It was a terrible match," recalls Europe 1 journalist Jacques Vendroux.

"Where when the Dutch players were attacking, you had 70,000 people whistling, and all this under the sneering eye of General Videla", the former Argentinian president.

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The latter had notably greeted the referee of the match before the match, who seemed under the influence.

The Argentinian players, for their part, showed an aggressive game, and imposed three goals in extra time, thanks in particular to a brace from star Mario Kempes.

Annoyed, the Dutch refused to go get their medals.

"An incredible atmosphere"

Argentina was of course jubilant.

Manuelo, eight years old at the time, had watched the match on a black and white TV.

"It was an incredible atmosphere, and I think it will start again tonight because the stadium will be full of Argentinians. We all have hopes of winning again and winning a third cup."

After the coronations of the teams of Kempes and Maradona, Argentina hopes for the consecration to protect them from Lionel Messi.