Brazil needed a goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time to see off Japan at NRG Stadium, and when Gabriel Martinelli turned in Bruno Guimarães' delivery to make it 2-1, the relief in Houston was audible. For the better part of an hour, Carlo Ancelotti's side had been chasing a game they had no business losing, punished for a first-half lapse against opponents who spent two-thirds of the match without the ball.
Japan's gameplan was transparent and, for a spell, entirely effective. Hajime Moriyasu set his side in a 3-4-2-1 that surrendered possession wholesale, then asked his players to press high, stay compact, and make Brazil pay for the first mistake. The mistake arrived on 29 minutes. Kaishu Sano collected possession, drove into space the Brazilian midfield had carelessly vacated, and finished. On 31 per cent possession and a miserly 0.23 expected goals, Japan had the lead.
Brazil's response was patient rather than frantic. They dominated territory, recycled the ball through 676 passes at 92 per cent accuracy, and pried away at a defence that had little interest in being opened. The equaliser, when it came in the 56th minute, was fittingly straightforward: Gabriel Magalhães picked out Casemiro, and the veteran midfielder converted at close range. A goal exactly in keeping with Casemiro's career, efficient and unspectacular, arriving precisely when his team needed it.
What followed was more uncomfortable than the scoreline eventually suggested. Japan were yellow-carded three times across the afternoon, and their physical discipline frayed as the game stretched, but Zion Suzuki made four saves to keep the scores level. Brazil committed 19 shots to the cause, 12 inside the box, and still Suzuki's goal stood as they entered stoppage time. It was the kind of evening that had Ancelotti's back four looking at each other slightly wide-eyed.
Martinelli settled it in the 95th minute. Introduced just before the hour, the Arsenal forward had the composure that Brazil's more heralded names had occasionally lacked, and when Guimarães found him in the box, he did not miss. Brazil go through to the next round, though they will be aware that a team carrying Vinícius Júnior and Matheus Cunha ought not to be relying on a late substitute to bail them out.
Japan will leave this tournament with something to be proud of. They asked serious questions of a side ranked among the tournament favourites, held the lead for the better part of an hour, and were undone only in the final moments. Sano, on a day when his midfield companions were yellow-carded and toiling, gave their best individual performance. Moriyasu's low-block executed its purpose; Brazil simply had enough quality in reserve to break it, eventually.
The broader worry for Ancelotti is the front three. Rayan showed energy and mobility throughout, and Vinícius was a persistent threat, but neither converted from a combined total of shots that should have made this straightforward before the half-time whistle. Cunha, replaced in the 66th minute, offered little. Lucas Paquetá lasted until the break. The midfield creativity this Brazil side possesses was not always translated into the clear openings the statistics imply they deserved.
Still, through is through. Brazil advance, Japan are out, and Martinelli's late intervention will quickly be filed under "got the job done." The next round will ask sterner questions.