Brazil is through to the 2026 FIFA World Cup Round of 16 after a last-minute goal broke Japanese hearts in Houston.
It took until the dying minutes of the game for the five-time world champions to finally pull ahead of the Samurai Blue, using a goal from Gabriel Martinelli to finally push past the Japanese.
The initial shock of the match came in the 29th minute when Kaishu Sano opened the scoring for Japan, sending a shot from outside the box. The low strike skirted past a diving Alisson, placed perfectly in the bottom left corner just inside the post.
It was the first goal that Brazil had allowed since Morocco scored first against the Seleção in the opening group match of the tournament.
The Japanese took the lead into halftime, and the Brazilians began to turn up the heat on the other side of the break, starting with a 52nd minute header from Bruno Guimarãres that forced a great save from keeper Zion Suzuki. The Japanese defense was in chaos minutes later as a header from Casemiro hit Japanese defender Takehiro Tomiyasu in the face on the goal line, bouncing back to Suzuki and into another goal-line clearance.
