👀 Brazil discover rival for first World Cup knockout tie | OneFootball

Brazil already know who they will face in the Round of 32 of the FIFA World Cup.

Vini Jr., Matheus Cunha & Co. will take on Japan in their first knockout match of the tournament. 

Japan finished second in Group F after drawing 1-1 with Sweden this Thursday (25) — see how the bracket looks below. 

The match will be played next Monday (29) at NRG Stadium in Houston, with kickoff at 2pm (Brasília time).

The winner will face either Ivory Coast or the runner-up from Group I (Norway or France) in the Round of 16. 

Netherlands on 🔥 in the 1st half and no goals elsewhere

Ronald Koeman's men took control of the game right away. 

Skhiri (own goal) and Brobbey gave them a good lead with just seven minutes on the clock. 

The scoreline could have been even bigger before halftime if not for some poor finishing. 

In the other match, Japan were moving the ball better. 

The best chance ended with Zetterstrom denying Nakamura.

Plenty of drama and places decided

Having posed little threat until then, Tunisia pulled one back in the 54th minute through Mastouri.

Then, in the day's main match, Japan opened the scoring after a fine team move finished by Ueda, Celtic's top scorer, in the 56th minute. 

Sweden did not let the "blow" affect them and equalized shortly after, in the 62nd minute.

Gyökeres kept pushing and set up Elanga. And the Forest forward scored a beautiful goal from outside the box. 

Van Hecke made it three for the Netherlands in that same minute.

All but securing top spot in the group with seven points — and a meeting with Morocco on that same Monday (29). 

Japan brought on Nagatomo (yes, him). It secured a fifth World Cup for the 39-year-old veteran full-back. All of them since the 2010 edition. 

A record among Asian players. 

Sweden had more of the play in the final minutes, but could not find the comeback. Japanese goalkeeper Suzuki made the difference by denying Isak. 

They moved onto four points, kept their goal difference at zero, and have the best record among the third-placed teams — thanks to the number of goals scored. 

They qualified and are waiting for the final results to find out who they will face next.

And Japan reached five points, securing second place.

Brazil 🆚 Japan head-to-head

The overall record stands at 14 matches. Brazil have won 11, with two draws and one Japanese victory — a 3-2 friendly win last year.

It will be only their second World Cup meeting.

The first came in the third round of Group F at the 2006 edition. Ronaldo (twice), Juninho Pernambucano and Gilberto scored in a 4-1 win.

Brazil topped the group, beat Ghana in the Round of 16 (3-0), but then fell to their nemesis France in the quarter-finals (0-1). 

Highlights from the matches 👇🏽

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.

📸 PAUL ELLIS - AFP or licensors