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.
Casemiro got his goal in the 56th minute off a headed ball off a cross from Gabriel Magalhães, finally getting the Brazilians on the board.
Vinicius Junior nearly scored the goal of the tournament just two minutes later as he dribbled through the Japanese defense, toe-poking the ball toward the net. Suzuki just got a hand on it, forcing it onto the post.
Over the next 30 minutes, the game settled in as Japan defended admirably while Brazil looked for a winner.
The moment finally came in the final minute of the match as a Japan giveaway on the edge of the box was quickly converted by Gabriel Martinelli. The Arsenal striker took a through ball from Guimarães and fired a shot across goal. Suzuki got a fingertip on the ball but it wasn’t enough as the ball bounced in off the post.
Brazil will face the winner of Ivory Coast-Norway in the Round of 16 at 4 p.m. ET on July 5 in MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Ivory Coast and Norway play their Round of 32 match on Tuesday afternoon near Dallas.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
Source: edition.cnn.com