Brazil take on Japan today in the first knockout stage of the 2026 World Cup.
Carlo Ancelotti’s Brazilian team topped a testing group ahead of Morocco and have a fairly promising draw, without facing one of the major contenders until a potential quarter-final with England, should the Three Lions get that far.
But first Brazil must topple Japan and that will not be easy after the Japanese went unbeaten in the group stage, sharing draws with the Netherlands and Sweden either side of a convincing win over Tunisia.
Here is everything you need to know.
When is Brazil v Japan?
The match takes place today, Monday 29 June, in Houston at midday local time, which is a start time of 6pm BST in the UK.
How to watch
Brazil v Japan will be broadcast live on ITV1 in the UK and can be streamed for free on ITVX.
Who will the winner face?
Either the Ivory Coast or Norway will await in the round of 16. They meet on Tuesday in Dallas.
Team news
The main team news revolves around Brazil’s attack. Raphinha is still out with a hamstring and will miss the game. Neymar appeared as a substitute in the win over Scotland and could be involved, but Rayan is more likely to start the game.
Predicted line-ups
Brazil: Alisson; Danilo, Marquinhos, Gabriel, Douglas Santos; Rayan, Bruno Guimaraes, Casemiro, Paqueta; Cunha, Vinicius Jr.
Japan: Z Suzuki; Seko, Taniguchi, H Ito; Sugawara, Tanaka, Kamada, Nakamura; Doan, Maeda; Ueda.
