Published June 29, 2026
Gabriel Martinelli scored the winning goal late in stoppage time to give five-time champions Brazil a 2-1 victory over Japan in the round of 32 of the World Cup in Houston.
It looked like Monday’s game would go into overtime, but Martinelli, who came on midway through the second half, scored in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
Brazil will next play either Ivory Coast or Norway in the Round of 16 on Sunday in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Casemiro had missed a chance two minutes earlier, but leveled the score in the 56th minute with a header off an assist from Gabriel Magalhães. The shot went into the goal just out of reach of Japan’s goalkeeper Zion Suzuki.
Kaishu Sano took a misplaced pass in midfield and fired a right-footed shot from above the half circle to give Japan the lead in the 29th minute.
Vinicius Junior, who has scored four goals so far this tournament, had a chance to turn Brazil around in the 58th minute, but his shot from the left was deflected by goalkeeper Suzuki and went over the far post.
Brazil had two chances to tie the score early in the second half, but broke through in the final stages. First, in the 52nd minute, Suzuki blocked Bruno Guimarães’ header. Moments later, Casemiro’s header bounced off a defender’s head and Suzuki’s face.
Japan has never won a World Cup final tournament.
It was Brazil’s 12th win out of 15 matches against Japan. Both teams ended in two draws, but Japan picked up its first win in the series in a friendly match in Tokyo in October.
Brazil is home to approximately 2.7 million Japanese-Americans, the largest population of Japanese-Americans outside of the country, and the two countries have close ties to each other.
That connection extended to soccer, with Brazilian superstar Zico moving to Japan in 1991 to play for Kashima Antlers and helping build Japan’s professional soccer network. He coached the Japanese national team from 2002 to 2006, leading them to victory in the 2006 World Cup.
That team lost 4-1 to Brazil in the only previous meeting between the teams at the World Cup.
Brazil advanced to Group C with a draw with Morocco and wins over Haiti and Scotland.
Monday’s victory came on the anniversary of Sweden’s first World Cup victory in 1958. At that time, 17-year-old Pele scored two goals in the final against the host nation.
Japan advanced to the last 32 as 2nd place in Group F, drawing with the Netherlands and Sweden and defeating Tunisia. This loss ended their undefeated streak at 10 games since a 2-0 loss to the United States in September.
