Japan Stun Brazil 3-2 Despite Vinicius Jr Brace of Long-Range Goals in Singapore
SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE - NOVEMBER 14: Vinicius Junior of Brazil in action during the international friendly match between Japan and Brazil at National Stadium on November 14, 2026 in Singapore.
Key points
- Lyon’s Keito Nakamura increased Japan’s lead just four minutes later after receiving an excellent cross from right-back Shuto Nakano, who sprinted down the right flank before finding Nakamura just inside the top of the box.
- pic.twitter.com/IKdVg2K4rM — Ben Fernandes Santos (@benfeerr) November 14, 2026 It looked like the match would end in a tie, but Coventry’s Tatsuhiro Sakamoto led Japan to victory in the 91st minute, calmly collecting the ball following a rebound from PSV’s Kodai Sano’s shot from the top of the box and slotting it past Morisco.
- Vinicius also had two key passes in the match, including creating one of Brazil’s two big scoring chances.
Type of goal so good, that it would wake you the hell up if you were watching this at an ungodly hour pic.twitter.com/kSHeC3tLRU — Managing Madrid (@managingmadrid) November 14, 2026 Vinicius equalized the match in the second half with another spectacular shot in the 75th minute from long distance.
Additional details
- Vinicius managed to halve Japan’s lead in the 33rd minute with a superb strike from outside the box.
- It was former Madrid winger Takefusa Kubo, playing in a more advanced second-striker role, who opened the scoring in the 15th minute with a powerful strike from inside the box that sailed past Brazilian goalkeeper Pedro Morisco’s near post.
- The Madrid winger ran toward the right side of the pitch to collect the ball from Bruno Guimarães and shoot between two Japanese defenders, seeing the ball sail past Aston Villa’s Zion Suzuki’s outstretched arm.
- The Madrid star cut back inside from the left and unleashed a powerful strike that went past Suzuki, striking the Japanese keeper’s far post and then ricocheting off the other post before finding the back of the net.
- Brazil had won 12 of the previous 14 encounters between the two nations, the other two ending in draws.
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