Gabriel Martinelli buried a stoppage-time winner off the post to send Brazil into the last 16 and spare Carlo Ancelotti the unthinkable: a World Cup exit at the hands of Japan.
The five-time champions had trailed since the 30th minute, when a loose pass from Danilo was seized on by Kaishu Nano, who burst past a leaden-footed Casemiro before drilling a low shot past Alisson. The entire Japanese squad charged onto the pitch to mob their teammate; those in yellow stood with hands on hips, wondering what had just happened.
“Brazil needed a stoppage-time Gabriel Martinelli goal to avoid a seismic World Cup upset against Japan.”
Ancelotti needed the team talk of his long and distinguished career at half-time. Brazil had dominated the ball from the start but created little — Bruno Guimaraes had a shot deflected wide, Matheus Cunha just failed to hit the target — while Japan were content to sit back, soak up pressure and take their chance when it came.
The equaliser arrived through Casemiro, the former Manchester United midfielder planting a superb header past Zion Suzuki from Gabriel’s cross. But Suzuki produced a world-class save to deny Vinicius Jr, tipping his effort onto the post, and the game looked destined for extra time.
Then, with seconds left, Guimaraes played a sublime pass to Martinelli, who buried his shot off the post and over the line. Brazil went bonkers; Japan were heartbroken.
No-one was more relieved than Ancelotti. He had signed a new contract before heading to North America, and defeat in this last-32 tie would have seen it ripped up in front of him. Instead, his team kept alive their hopes of conquering the world for the first time since 2002 — by the narrowest of margins.