KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Julián Álvarez sent defending champions Argentina into the World Cup semifinals with a stunning strike to help beat Switzerland in extra time on Saturday night.
Lautaro Martínez added another with seconds left in extra time to make the 3-1 victory look a whole lot easier than it was.
- Bellingham lifts 'lucky' England past Norway
- Embolo red-carded for diving after VAR review
Alexis Mac Allister also scored off a corner kick from Lionel Messi, helping La Albiceleste gut out another down-to-the-wire thriller and advance to play England on Wednesday in Atlanta. The Three Lions beat Norway 2-1 earlier in the day.
"We're among the best four," Alvarez said, "so we're meeting our objectives, and we knew it wasn't going to be easy. The whole match was hard, and we would have loved to have the win earlier, but we tried to get the win however we could.
"The opponent was really good but we fought until the end, and finally the goals came."
Messi's nine-game World Cup scoring streak ended, but his pursuit of a second World Cup title continues.
The game swung in the second half on a call sure to rile up critics who believe Argentina has been favored in this tournament.
The Swiss had just tied the score on Dan Ndoye's goal in the 67th minute when Leandro Paredes was shown a yellow card for a tackle on Breel Embolo. But video showed the Swiss player falling before the Argentina midfielder made contact with him, and since Embolo received a yellow card earlier in the match, he was sent off and Switzerland was left to defend with 10 players.
It was the second time a yellow card has been overturned using the "mistaken identity" protocol at the World Cup. The rule allows the video assistant referee to intervene when an incorrect player is shown a yellow or red card.
"I just don't understand how VAR can make that kind of decision," Swiss defender Nico Elvedi said.
With France playing Spain in the other semifinal, it is the first time since FIFA rankings were instigated in 1992 that the top-four ranked teams have all made the semifinals.
Argentina, who are riding a 12-match World Cup unbeaten streak, had looked quite beatable in the knockout rounds. Lionel Scaloni's squad needed extra time to squeak past tiny Cape Verde before rallying from a 2-0 deficit in the final 11 minutes of regulation to beat Egypt and earn a date with Switzerland at the home of the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Swiss, meanwhile, were playing their first World Cup quarterfinal since 1954. They still have never made a semifinal, nor have they beaten Argentina in eight meetings -- three of those in the tournament that matters the most.
Argentina have made its base for the past month in Kansas City, training at the home of MLS club Sporting Kansas City while winning over thousands of new fans. And Saturday night, they filled Arrowhead Stadium for the second time this tournament, hoping to see Messi make more magic after his hat trick against Algeria in the same arena a few weeks ago.
It was brutally hot and humid throughout the day, but the temperatures began to fall with the setting sun, producing a picturesque setting for the 100th match of an expanded World Cup, and the final match of the quarterfinal round.
The defensive-minded Swiss had conceded only three goals in five games, and they dominated the ball in the opening minutes. But leave it to Messi, whose eight goals in the tournament are tied for the most with France's Kylian Mbappé, to send a jolt through a heavily pro-Argentina crowd that included Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Messi helped to earn an early corner kick with some nifty footwork, then delivered the ball that Mac Allister turned into a 1-0 lead.
For most of the match, the Swiss struggled to break down an Argentina back line that had conceded two goals apiece in its past two games. And it didn't help them that they were playing without breakout star Johan Manzambi, who remained out with a knee injury after missing their round of 16 penalty shootout win over Colombia.
But after forcing Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez into making a couple of tough second-half saves, the Swiss broke through when Ricardo Rodríguez slipped a tidy pass to Ndoye, and he easily found the back of the net.
Whatever momentum the equalizer gave the Swiss disappeared with Embolo's red card a few minutes later.
Argentina turned up the pressure with Mac Allister missing wide with a header in the 89th minute, and Messi creating an opportunity in front of the goal that he sent just wide in the second minute of stoppage time, leaving the score tied into extra time.
Just as they have all tournament, La Albiceleste found a way to keep their quest for back-to-back championships alive.
"We knew this could happen," Argentina midfielder Thiago Almada said. "They have top players, very good position, they were trying to find people inside. We knew how to hold up and we made it through."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.