Tatsuhiro Sakamoto strikes late as Japan stuns Brazil in friendly

Japan's Ao Tanaka (right) and Brazil's Andrey Santos vie for the ball during a friendly in Kallang, Singapore, on Saturday. | REUTERS

AFP-Jiji

Nov 15, 2026

Singapore – Substitute Tatsuhiro Sakamoto netted his first international goal with a late winner as Japan edged Brazil 3-2 in a thrilling friendly at National Stadium in Singapore on Saturday.

A brilliant brace by Vinicius Junior erased a two-goal deficit after strikes by Takefusa Kubo and Keito Nakamura put the Samurai Blue up 2-0 in the opening 19 minutes.

But Sakamoto was in the right place to fire home after latching on to Kodai Sano’s deflected effort in stoppage time to give the Asian side a dramatic victory in front of 38,688 fans.

In a time of both misinformation and too much information,
quality journalism is more crucial than ever.
By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.