Key Points
- Brazil beat Japan 2-1 in the Round of 32 in Houston to reach the Round of 16
- Kaishu Sano put Japan ahead in the 29th minute before Brazil rallied
- Casemiro equalized in the 56th minute and Gabriel Martinelli won it in stoppage time
- Brazil will face the winner of Norway and Ivory Coast in the Round of 16
Brazil reached the World Cup Round of 16, but Japan made the five-time champions earn every yard of it. The Seleção trailed for nearly an hour in Houston on Monday before a Casemiro header and a Gabriel Martinelli strike in the sixth minute of stoppage time turned a looming upset into a 2-1 escape.
Japan, organized and fearless, struck first when Kaishu Sano finished a flowing move in the 29th minute and took the lead into halftime. Brazil, flat and frustrated through the opening hour, finally leveled in the 56th when Casemiro rose to head home. The breakthrough came at the death: Bruno Guimaraes slid a pass through to substitute Martinelli, who rolled it in deep into stoppage time to send Brazil through. Vinicius Junior threatened throughout — at one point nutmegging a defender before forcing a save — but it was the bench that delivered the winner.
Brazil advanced on depth rather than control: a substitute settled a game the starters could not, and the winner came in the 96th minute against a Japan side that had led for nearly an hour. The result extends a chaotic knockout round — the first 32-team bracket in tournament history — that has already tested favorites; a day earlier, Canada edged South Africa on a stoppage-time goal of their own. Brazil now await the winner of Norway and Ivory Coast in the Round of 16. That tie ended their tournament: Norway beat Brazil 2-1 in the round of 16, Haaland scoring twice.
Source: ESPN, NBC Sports, France 24
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