The first big “thriller” of the World Cup unfolded in Houston, where Brazil won 2-1 with a comeback in the 5th minute of injury time and qualified for the “round of 16” where they will face Ivory Coast or Norway.

In Brazil’s meaningless 80-20 possession in the first 20 minutes, the Japanese were waiting for their moment. And it came in the 29th minute with Sano making the steal in the center, driving the ball and with a shot outside the area sending it into Alisson’s net. One of the most “personal” goals in the America’s Cup and at the same time the first with the national team for the 25-year-old Mainz midfielder.
In the 50-60th minute, Brazil played like… a real “Seleção”, forcing its opponents to experience “nightmarish” moments. In the 53rd minute, Guimaraes’ header sent the defenders and Suzuki away on the line. In the 56th minute, from Gabriel’s cross, Casemiro equalized with a header, while in the 58th minute, with incredible individual energy, Vinicius entered the area and scored, but Suzuki barely found the ball, just enough to send it against the post. Then, the pace of the match dropped and as time passed, both teams came to terms with the idea of ​​extra time, so they didn’t take any risks. However, in the last phase of the match (90+5′) Tanaka made a very “cheap” mistake from the area, Guimaraes passed the assist to Martinelli and the Arsenal ace coolly scored and sent Brazil to the “16”

Referee: Maurizio Mariani (Italy)
Yellow cards: Casemiro, Danilo – Sano, Kamadam, Yun. Suzuki

BRAZIL (Carlo Ancelotti): Alisson, Gabriel, Marquinhos, Danilo, Douglas Santos, Casemiro (90+2′ Fabinho), Bruno Guimaraes (90+7′ Danilo Santos), Paqueta (46′ Edric), Vinicius, Kunia (66′ Martinelli), Ryan
JAPAN (Moriyashu Hajime): Zion Suzuki, Taniguchi, H. Ito, Tomiyasu, Doan (66′ Sugawara), Maeda (90+7′ Ogawa), Nakamura (Yunosuke Suzuki), G. Ito, Kamada (78′ Tanaka), Sano, Ueda