Japan's wait for a victory in a World Cup knockout match continues. Ancelotti walks over to Moriyasu with a sombre expression gives him a little hug. Ancelotti knows that this hasn't really been the greatest of performances from Brazil, we have hardly seen any elation on his face today. But that can't be said about his players. They are all smiles, some tearing up as well. The Japanese have all crumpled to the ground, one has to feel for them. They put up quite an incredible performance today. But it was almost like Brazil flicked a switch on in the second half and they were almost unstoppable.

90+1 mins: Casemiro has sat down in the Brazilian penalty box. He can't carry on any more. Brazil bring on Fabinho. That whole routine takes a couple of minutes which will be surely added to the 6 minutes of injury time.

84th min: Danilo draws a foul near the touchline on the left, about 35 yards away from goal. Bruno Guimaraes goes for goal anyhow, it was a good strike and is headed away by a Japanese defender. These are the knockouts now and so we will be going all the way. First of all the injury time, then the extra time and then, hauntingly for the players, penalties.

73rd min: Another great cross from Gabriel gets Brazil a corner. The delivery was quite ordinary there though and so it comes to nothing. According to Opta, Brazil had 74.83% in the last 15 minutes.

65th min: Gabriel Martinelli comes on, in place of Matheus Cunha which is a bit of a surprise because of how good the Manchester United man has been. But Japan won't be particularly happy that it is someone as prolific and dangerous as Martinelli coming as a substitute. They also make changes, Ritsu Doan in for Sugawara while Keito Nakamura comes on for Junnosuke Suzuki.

55th min: Oh yes, there is Casemiro and there are Brazil! It was Casemiro who had lost the ball in the first half whioch led to Japan scoring, now he equalises with that header that Manchester United fans saw so much of in the season gone by. Excellent chip into the box by Gabriel from the left, Casemiro leaps high at the far side and heads it home.

52nd minute: Danilo chips the ball into the box, Guimaraes gets a header to it but its straight at Suzuki. That might just be the best chance Brazil have had all day.

And a huge roar from the Brazilians in the crowd as Endrick comes on for Lucas Paqueta! So much for all those Ancelotti-Endrick memes. The Japanese get the second half underway.

The Samurai Blue have left the Canarinho feeling very blue indeed. Going 1-0 down is one thing. But Brazilian fans would be far more troubled by just how little difficulty Japan have had in maintaining this lead. Brazil, usually full of flare and attacking creativity, have been toothless. That angry exchange between Pacqueta and Cunha earlier in the half pretty much sums them up. A pair of very talented players with no answers to the Japanese defenders. And it seems pretty clear that if people will be looking for scapegoats to hang this result on, if in case Brazil don't make it, Casemiro and Vinicius might be early candidates. Although it will be hugely unfair on them considering how good they have been otherwise in this World Cup.

What can Carlo Ancelotti brew at half time to get his frustrated superstars going? We can only wait and watch to find out.

37th min: Paqueta has a go at Cunha after passing the ball back to the defensive line. Brazil pass around a bit and then Casemiro is dispossessed by Maeda. He charges forward, Danilo and Paqueta arrive to smother him just as he gets into the Brazilian half of the field.

29th min: Oh now THAT is utterly extraordinary! Kaishu Sano nicks the ball in midfield and simply drives forward with everything he has. Evades a Casemiro drifting in front of him and then unleashes a venomous shot from outside the box. Allison is beaten and the Japanese are a cock-a-hoop.

Well understandable if the Brazilians are feeling a little puzzled going into that break. Cunha had broken down the left just before that, tried to work his way inside after kicking the ball into the box but he was brought down by Sano. Replays show that Sano got absolutely nothing on the ball. But the referee doesn't give Brazil a free kick. Instead, whistles for the ad break ahem the hydration break.

14th min: A nice string of passes there from the Brazilians. Casemiro works the ball forward to Guimaraes who sends it further forward for Cunha. He takes a shot along the ground from outside the box. Suzuki gets a glove to it for a corner.

4th min: Japan looking slightly more interested in staying in a low block judging by these early exchanges but they are not parking the bus by any stretch of imagination. They, in fact, got forward first with Alisson having to clear in the second minute. Then Brazil kick into gear, Guimaraes goes for a shot from outside the box. It is deflected out for a corner which comes to nothing for Brazil.

Brazil's national anthem, the 'Hino Nacional Brasileiro', comes first and the players, the majority of the crowd in the stadium and their Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti (!!!) sings it with everything they've got. Then comes the Japanese national anthem, called 'Kimigayo', sung just as passionately by the players and fans. This. Is. It.

Look away Brazil fans, even though they have lost just once to Japan in the 14 times these two sides have faced each other. For that one defeat came in the last game between these two sides! To make it worse, Brazil squandered a 2-0 lead in that game to lose 3-2.

They have faced each other just once in the World Cup and that was 20 years ago, when the Brazil of the likes of Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Kaka and more beat Japan 4-1. Overall, Brazil have won 11 matches against Japan while two have ended in draws.

That phrase is often used as a metaphor but here, Japan and Brazil really are on opposite sides of the world. As pointed out by Scottish snow-patch researcher Iain Cameron on X, Japan's Okinawa and Santa Catarina, Paraná in Brazil are almost perfect antipodes of each other. An antipode is the exact point on Earth diametrically opposite to another location

Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, Vinicius Jr, Ousmane Dembele - think of the biggest star names in football at the moment, they are all in a golden boot race for the ages at this World Cup. Yet, the wider meaning, the symbolism, is different for each, and intertwined with personal glory, identity, legacy and pure enjoyment, along the journey that takes them to the ultimate destination. The World Cup.

Messi leads the race, with an incredible six strikes in three games. Mbappe, Dembele, Vinicius and Haaland all come next with four goals each. READ MORE.

Saw Canada beat South Africa 1-0 to make it through to the Round of 16. It went in thanks to a late, late goal from Stephen Eustaquio that put Canada ahead just when it looked like the first knockout game of this World Cup was destined to go into extra time, or beyond.

Two years ago, when Eustaquio walked onto the pitch, he felt a sense of purposelessness. He had lost his parents in the space of a year, and when he couldn’t find them in the stands, he felt like crying, to quit the game his parents helped build.

Two years later, in Los Angeles, he found the purpose of his life. To score the most historic goal yet in Canada’s football history. READ MORE.

That Japan are the benchmark in Asian football is no secret but even by their standards, their recent run has been quite extraordinary. The draw against Sweden in their final group game this World Cup made it 10 consecutive unbeaten games for Japan in international football. And this includes, worryingly for Brazil, a historic 1-0 win over them in a friendly.

Brazil started with an uncertain 1-1 draw against Morocco. After that, though, they went into cruise mode, beating Haiti and Scotland by 3-0 scorelines and going through to the next round on a canter.

Alisson Becker, Weverton, Ederson, Gabriel Magalhães, Marquinhos, Alex Sandro, Danilo, Bremer, Léo Pereira, Douglas Santos, Roger Ibañez, Éderson Silva, Casemiro, Bruno Guimarães, Fabinho, Danilo Santos, Lucas Paquetá, Vinícius Júnior, Matheus Cunha, Neymar, Raphinha, Endrick, Luiz Henrique, Gabriel Martinelli, Igor Thiago, Rayan.