Martinelli's stoppage-time winner sends Brazil past Japan into last 16

Gabriel Martinelli’s stoppage-time winner sent Brazil past Japan 2-1 at NRG Stadium in Houston and into the World Cup last 16, after a match that again asked whether this Brazilian side is surviving by instinct or winning like a champion.

Martinelli came on as a second-half substitute and settled the round-of-32 tie in the sixth minute of added time, a late finish that kept Brazil’s bid for a sixth World Cup title alive. Brazil, the record five-time champions, will now face either Ivory Coast or Norway in New York/New Jersey on Sunday.

Japan had made Brazil work from the start. Kaishu Sano put Japan ahead in the first half, and for a long stretch Brazil looked vulnerable to the kind of pressure that can end a tournament early. Casemiro brought Brazil level shortly after the restart with a header set up by Gabriel Magalhães, but the equalizer did not fully settle a match that remained tense until the final moments.

The finish changed the stakes immediately. A team that had been pushed to the edge of elimination found a way through when the game seemed to be slipping toward extra time, and Martinelli’s late strike denied Japan its first-ever World Cup knockout-stage victory. That alone gave Brazil’s comeback a sharper edge than an ordinary advance.

It also left a clearer picture of where Brazil stands heading into the next round. The talent is still enough to produce a decisive goal deep in stoppage time, but the route through Japan showed how easily the match can tilt against them when opponents force the issue early. Against stronger resistance in the last 16, Brazil will need more than one late rescue to keep the campaign moving toward a title it has not won in more than two decades.