Brazil 2-1 Japan: Martinelli's 95th-Minute Winner Rescues the Five-Time Champions

Brazil are through to the round of 16, but they were made to wait, made to sweat, and very nearly made to suffer. At a sweltering NRG Stadium in Houston, Japan led, defended with discipline and pace, and stood two minutes from forcing extra time against the five-time champions. Then Gabriel Martinelli, on as a substitute, finished low in the 95th minute to settle it 2-1 — a moment of individual quality that rescued a Brazil performance that, for long stretches, had been anything but champion-like.

Japan's lead was deserved and, in its way, beautifully taken. On 31 minutes Kaishu Sano, the Mainz midfielder, pounced on a loose pass from Danilo, advanced and struck a low drive from outside the box that beat Alisson at his near side. It was a goal of real composure from a side that had come to compete rather than merely survive, and it asked the biggest question a knockout tie can pose of a favourite: can you come from behind when the pressure is on and the opponent is organised?

For an hour, the answer looked uncertain. Japan sat in a compact, aggressive block, broke quickly through their wide players, and denied Brazil the space their forwards crave. Hajime Moriyasu's men were missing Takefusa Kubo, unavailable since the tournament opener, yet barely seemed to notice as they frustrated a Brazil side long on names but short on rhythm. The Selecao had the ball; Japan had the better structure.

The equaliser, when it came, was old-fashioned and from an unfashionable source. On 67 minutes Gabriel Magalhaes drifted forward and delivered from the left, and Casemiro — all timing and aggression — met it with a header at the back post to level the tie. It was the kind of goal that spoke to Brazil's experience: when the fluent stuff would not come, a set-piece presence and a veteran's nous dragged them back into it.

Still Japan would not break, and the contest looked bound for extra time until the very last act. Deep in stoppage time Bruno Guimaraes slid a pass through the heart of a tiring Japanese defence, and Martinelli ran onto it to finish past Zion Suzuki and send the Brazilian end into delirium. The 95th-minute winner was the difference between a comfortable narrative and a chastening one — and it was decided not by Brazilian control but by a single, ruthless break.

For Japan it was heartbreak of a familiar shape. This was their fifth appearance in the World Cup knockout rounds, and for the fifth time they leave without a victory in an elimination match — a glass ceiling that grows more painful with every near miss. They were, on the night, the better-organised team for long spells, and to lose it in the final seconds to a moment of opposition class will sting for a long time.

Brazil, who topped Group C unbeaten on seven points, advance to face the winners of Ivory Coast and Norway, and will know they got away with one. 'Calm' was the word Casemiro reached for afterwards, crediting the team's composure in chasing the game — but composure was in shorter supply than the scoreline suggests. The five-time champions are still in the tournament; on this evidence, they have a great deal to fix before the field's better sides make them pay for an hour of second best.