Gonzalo Higuain’s 7th minute effort sent Argentina to their first world cup semi final berth in 24 years.
The Real Madrid forward scored a very early goal which despite Belgium’s best efforts in the second half remained intact.
A frenzied five minutes of stoppage time saw two great chances for either side, but neither could convert and the 1-0 score-line was enough for Argentina to go through.
The third quarter final game involved Lionel Messi’s South American giants facing Belgium’s golden generation of footballers, who have so far impressed, having won all their games.
Argentina needed 120 minutes to dispatch Switzerland in the Round of 16, and they made their intent to avoid such a long gruelling battle this time around by taking the earliest of leads in the 7th minute.
Di Maria’s attempted through ball hit the leg of a Belgian defender, and the bounce fell kindly to Higuain, who hit a first time volley from just inside the box, which sailed past Courtois in the Belgian goal.
Belgium had barely had time to settle, and they barely recovered for the rest of the half, suffering tons of misplaced passes and sloppiness in possession, with only Jan Vertonghen and Kevin de Bruyne posing any threat to the Argentine defence.
Argentina was great on the break, the pace of Di Maria and Messi causing Belgium all sorts of trouble. One such break saw Messi set Di Maria free, but his shot was greatly blocked by Kompany.
Left back Vertonghen got down the left pretty well for Belgium, his cross in the 41st meeting Mirallas’ head, but his header went just wide.
De Bruyne also came close for Belgium, his long range effort punched away by Sergi Romero.
A 40th minute free kick for Argentina was in a great position, but Messi sent his shot over the bar, the half drawing to close soon after with Argentina’s solitary goal lead.
Argentina came out of the blocks fastest in the second half, Messi hitting another free kick wide. Higuain did well to get into the Belgian box, but his shot deflected off van Buyten for a corner.
Argentina should have gone 2-0 up in the 54th minute, Higuain beating several defenders with a superb solo run, but his final shot with Courtois at his mercy was skied horribly over.
Belgian coach Marc Wilmots did a double substitution to try and turn the tide, Lukaku and Dries Mertens thrown on for more variety upfront.
Little changed for Belgium, whose play was disjointed, though creating a few chances. Kevin de Bruyne’s cross almost found Lukaku, but Garay’s interception took the ball off his feet and away for a corner.
De Bruyne remained Belgium’s most dangerous player, a well hit shot taking a deflection, wrong-footing Romero but flashing just wide.
Belgium’s efforts were not paying off, and five minutes of added time saw two great chances but no one scored. Lukaku did well to trap a through pass, beat his man but his cross was weak, cleared by Garay, Witsel’s follow up shot from outside the box horribly wide.
And Messi had the chance at the other end to seal the game, but his finish was poor, saved by Cortouis despite a one-on-one confrontation.
The whistle went moments later though, meaning the miss was of little import, and sending Argentina to their first semi finals place since a certain Diego Maradona hung up his boots.