Argentina captain Lionel Messi has criticised referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz, claiming that the official should not have officiated their 2022 FIFA World Cup quaterfinal clash against Netherlands.

Argentina won the match 4-3 on penalties after it had ended 2-2 at the end of extra time following a late brace from Dutch substitute Wout Weghorst.

Messi, who he created the South Americans’ opening goal before scoring their second and burying his penalty in the shoot-out, was left frustrated with the referee after a number of brawls involving both teams marred the closing minutes at Lusail Stadium.

Mateu Lahoz showed 16 yellow cards in total, with Netherlands wing-back Denzel Dumfries sent off after the penalty shootout for a second booking.

Speaking after the game, the 35-year-old said: “I don’t want to talk about the referee, because they immediately reprimand you or sanction you, but I think people saw what happened.

“Fifa has to review that, it can’t give a referee like that a match of this importance, when they’re not up to the task.

“We didn’t have a great game, and then the referee sent it to extra time. He was always against us. In the last play, it was not a foul.”

He added: “We suffered too much because of how everything happened, but it is the quarterfinals of a World Cup.

“We knew how to suffer when it was our turn, but we got through to the semifinals. It’s beautiful, something impressive.”

Argentina will play Croatia in the semifinals on Tuesday at 9 pm CAT.