Kylian Mbappé made it 2-2 for France in the 81st minute on a volley just one minute after scoring on the penalty against Argentina in the World Cup final.
Argentina had a 2-0 lead at half-time after goals by Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria.
Messi scored on a 23rd-minute penalty kick after a foul on Di Maria. Thirteen minutes later Di Maria finished off a flowing team move involving a deft flick from Messi.
Messi now has 12 World Cup goals — the same as Brazil great Pelé — and is the first player to score in the group stage and every round of the knockout stage in a single edition of the tournament.
Like France, Argentina are seeking a third World Cup title — after 1978 and 1986 — to move into outright fourth place in the all-time list. It would end a 36-year wait for football's biggest prize, since Maradona's string of virtuoso performances in Mexico in 1986.
That made Maradona forever a hero in Argentina and an icon around the football world. Messi now appears to be at that level.
Messi has evoked comparisons with Maradona in the way he has pushed Argentina to the final, scoring six goals, thrilling his team's legion of fans, who have poured into Qatar throughout the World Cup in numbers only really matched by those from Morocco.
Read more: Messi fulfils his destiny, Argentina win third World Cup