Brazil needed stoppage time, a substitute’s finish and a long spell of pressure to survive Japan. The favorite advanced to the World Cup round of 16 with a 2-1 win after Gabriel Martinelli scored in the fifth minute of added time, turning a match that had briefly looked like it might become one of the tournament’s sharpest knockout shocks.
Japan had taken the lead in the 29th minute through Kaishu Sano, whose right-footed shot from outside the box beat Alisson Becker after a fast break. It was the kind of goal that changed the whole tempo of the match: Brazil had the ball, Japan had the lead, and the pressure around every Brazilian possession became louder.
Brazil’s response was blunt rather than elegant. It finished with 68.6 percent possession, 19 shots and seven on target, but Japan’s defensive shape and Zion Suzuki’s saves kept the game uncomfortable deep into the second half. Casemiro finally broke through in the 56th minute, heading in from close range after Gabriel Magalhães delivered the cross.
The equalizer did not immediately settle Brazil. Japan still had enough pace to make the final half-hour tense, and Ayase Ueda forced Alisson into a save in the 64th minute. But Brazil’s bench eventually tilted the match. Martinelli came on in the 66th minute, kept stretching Japan’s back line and delivered the final touch when Bruno Guimarães found him in the center of the box.
Brazil bends, then finds the late answer
Martinelli’s winner was the difference between a tense escape and a penalty-kick lottery Brazil did not want. His right-footed shot in the 90th+5 minute gave Brazil the result its pressure had been chasing, and it kept a side that has spent much of this tournament carrying expectation into the next round.
Japan exits with a performance that made Brazil work for everything. It scored first, absorbed long stretches without the ball and stayed within one moment of extra time until the final seconds. That will not soften the end much, but it reflected the same tournament edge that has made the knockout rounds harder to script.
Brazil moves on with the win, though not with a clean afternoon. It had enough quality to recover, enough depth to change the match and enough late composure to avoid a far messier conversation. The next round will ask whether this was just a scare, or a warning about how narrow Brazil’s margin can get when the game stops following its possession numbers.
For more World Cup coverage, see Stadio United’s look at the best goals of the 2026 World Cup so far and how the tournament’s new format has changed the pressure around these knockout games.
