Kaishu Sano scored a superb individual goal to give Japan a shock 1-0 lead in their World Cup round of 32 tie with Brazil.
Japan have never won a knockout game at the World Cup and, despite beating the Selecao in a friendly last year, went into the match against the five-time world champions as clear underdogs.
They spent much of the opening stages on the back foot as Brazil dominated possession but, shortly after the hydration break, Japan stunned Carlo Ancelotti’s men as Sano scored his first World Cup goal.
Sano pounced on a sloppy pass from Danilo before surging past Casemiro and unleashing a precise low effort that beat Alisson and flew into the bottom-left corner.
Brazil are hoping to end a 24-year wait for a sixth title, having only gone beyond the quarter-finals once since their 2002 triumph.
But Sano’s goal left Brazil needing to produce a comeback to even reach the last-16 and avoid an exit that would go down as a humiliating failure for the World Cup’s most successful nation.
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