Argentina's Julian Alvarez celebrates after scoring a goal during Saturday's World Cup quarterfinal vs.Switzerland in Kansas City. (AP photo)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Julian Alvarez sent defending champion Argentina back to the World Cup semifinals with a long-range strike in the 112th minute against Switzerland, while another goal by Lautaro Martinez with seconds left in extra time only served to make the 3-1 victory look a whole lot easier than it was Saturday night.

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.

Messi’s nine-game World Cup scoring streak ended, but his pursuit of a second World Cup title continues. With Argentina and England joining France and Spain in the semifinals, it’s the first time the top four teams in the FIFA rankings have all advanced that far.

The game swung in the second half on a call sure to rile up critics who believe Argentina has been favored by officials in this tournament.

The Swiss had just tied the game 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.

Argentina, which is 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 has 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 on 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 building 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 only conceded 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.

He 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 last two games. And it didn’t help their cause that they were playing without Johan Manzabi, one of their best goal-scorers, who remained out with a knee injury after missing their round of 16 penalty shootout win over Colombia.

But after forcing Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez into making a couple of tough second-half saves, the Swiss broke through when Ricardo Rodriguez 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 game 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.

ENGLAND 2,NORWAY 1

Jude Bellingham locked arms with teammate Harry Kane as England fans belted out the Beatles’ “Hey Jude.”

Bellingham certainly earned the serenade.

He scored twice on Saturday — an equalizer in the first half and the go-ahead goal in the third minute of extra time — to lift England past Norway 2-1 and into the World Cup semifinals for the first time since 2018.

The Real Madrid star has now matched Kane with six goals in this tournament, two behind France’s Kylian Mbappé and Argentina’s Lionel Messi and one shy of Norway’s Erling Haaland, who was held scoreless by England. Bellingham also scored twice in the round of 16 as England beat co-host Mexico.

England, winner of the 1966 World Cup and facing pressure to return to the title match, is now one win away from getting there. The Three Lions will face Argentina in the semifinals.

“The game is split into loads of different facets. Some of it is technical, tactical,” Bellingham said. “For me, the biggest one is psychological and how you can manage setbacks, how you can manage adversity. This team showed yet again that they can do it and that’s a really valuable skill and trait to have.”

Not everyone was thrilled with England’s performance.

“We made life very, very difficult for ourselves today,” coach Thomas Tuchel said in a contentious interview with Fox Sports. “The result is fantastic. We’re in the last four. It’s amazing, but not happy with the performance … in every sense.”

Tuchel clarified in his news conference that he was “proud and happy” with how his squad has overcome adversity, but added, “I’m also a football coach and I also have demands. … I think we can play faster. I think we can play more clinical.”