For about 45 minutes on Monday, Brazil looked like they were about to become a trivia question. An embarrassing one.
Japan came out swinging in this Round of 32 matchup, and it was Kaishu Sano — a guy with zero international goals before today — who put them ahead 1-0 in the 29th minute. His first ever strike for his country came against the five-time world champions on the biggest stage. That’s not nothing.
Japan was the better team through the first half. More composed. More organized. Brazil couldn’t find any rhythm, and their attacking players kept running into a wall of blue jerseys. The crowd was restless.
But here’s where it gets weird. Brazil hasn’t won a World Cup knockout match when trailing at halftime since 1938. That’s not a typo. 88 years. The stat was floating around social media during the break, and it wasn’t hard to find fans bracing for the worst.
The curse was real. Then Casemiro happened.
Whatever was said in the locker room worked. Brazil came out with a different energy in the second half, and it was Casemiro — the veteran midfielder, not exactly known for heroics — who leveled the score in the 56th minute. One pass, one finish, and suddenly the weight shifted.
Still, Brazil couldn’t find the winner. Japan’s defense bent but didn’t break. The minutes ticked by. 70th minute. 80th. Stoppage time arrived, and it started to feel like extra time was inevitable. That’s when Gabriel Martinelli decided he’d had enough.
In the sixth minute of added time, after a slick team passing sequence, Martinelli buried the game-winner. The bench emptied. The curse was dead.
What comes next for the Seleção
Brazil moves on to the Round of 16, where they’ll face either Norway or Ivory Coast. The performance wasn’t dominant — far from it — but surviving is what matters in knockout soccer.
The 1938 team that last pulled off this kind of comeback? They made it to the semifinals. History doesn’t repeat itself exactly, but it’s a nice omen for a team that just broke 88 years of bad habits.
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