Brazil vs. Japan: Head-to-head record and past meetings

One of the standout matches of the World Cup 2026 last-32 phase will be fought in Houston on Monday, when Brazil and Japan square off in a 6pm kickoff UK time.

The Selecao secured their obligatory spot in the knockout rounds via a first-placed finish in Group C, edging out Morocco on goal difference thanks to back-to-back 3-0 wins over Scotland and Haiti.

Meanwhile, the Samurai Blue nabbed second spot behind the Netherlands in Group F, and the winner of this showdown faces either Ivory Coast or Norway for a place in the quarter-finals.

Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at the head-to-head record and previous meetings between the two sides.

Head-to-head record

Previous meetings: 14

Brazil wins: 11

Draws: 2

Japan wins: 1

Despite operating on different sides of the globe, Brazil and Japan have been frequent foes since the inaugural meeting in 1989, won 1-0 by the Selecao courtesy of a goal from J. League regular Bismarck.

Brazil's narrow victory that day was unsurprisingly a sign of things to come, as the five-time World Cup winners have prevailed in 11 of their previous 14 meetings with Japan, while playing out two draws and suffering just one defeat.

However, that solitary loss came in the teams' most recent head-to-head before the 2026 World Cup, as Hajime Moriyasu's men stunned Carlo Ancelotti's side in a 3-2 friendly victory in October 2025.

What made that triumph even more impressive was the manner of Japan's success, as Brazil led 2-0 going into the second half but were undone by a mesmerising comeback job, as Takumi Minamino, Keito Nakamura and Ayase Ueda turned the friendly on its head.

Japan's maiden win over Brazil snapped a six-game losing streak against the Selecao, who also overcame the Samurai Blue 3-0 in the group stage of the 2013 Confederations Cup, which they went on to win.

Japan had previously held Brazil to a pair of stalemates in the 2005 and 2001 editions of the same tournament, before the South American giants made light work of their Asian foes in their first-ever World Cup meeting.

The two nations were drawn to face each other in the group stage of the 2006 competition, and after Japan surprisingly struck first through Keiji Tamada, Brazil romped to a 4-1 win thanks in no small part to a Ronaldo double.

However, R9 is far from the highest scorer in this fixture; Neymar has racked up a mammoth nine goals against Japan, his highest total against a single national team - including all four in a 4-0 friendly win in 2014.