Japan’s star striker, Takefusa Kubo, remains injured and will not play this Monday (29) against Brazil in the 32-team phase of the 2026 World Cup, said his coach, Hajime Moriyasu, who recalled that they already know how to beat the five-time world champions.
“He wasn’t able to train today, he’s doing individual work, racing, so he won’t be able to play in tomorrow’s match against Brazil,” the coach said this Sunday (28) at a press conference at the NRG stadium in Houston, where the game will take place.
Despite this, Moriyasu trusts that the Blue Samurai will present their best version, especially inspired by a recent precedent: a friendly match in October 2025 in Tokyo between the two teams that Japan won 3-2.
“Reviewing our games against Brazil, we had never achieved a victory. So, at that moment, we saw how history was being made. Until then, we had a 0% chance of winning, but then we realized that yes, we have a chance of winning”, he considered.
“We think it will be a very intense game (…) We fervently believe that we can win (…) Tomorrow’s match will be very complicated, but we will enter the field giving our all”, added Moriyasu.
The two teams will face each other at 2pm (Brasília time) in a life or death duel. For this reason, Japan is even preparing for the penalty shootout, where Moriyasu himself will choose the penalty takers, he said.
Both Brazil and Japan were eliminated on penalties at Qatar 2022, both against the same opponent, Croatia: the Samurais in the round of 16 and Canarinha in the quarterfinals.
Moriyasu mentioned as a disadvantage that Brazil had more rest days after the end of the group stage, although they knew the calendar and were aware of this possibility.
The coach recalled that Japan has players in Europe or Latin America, “so we are at the necessary level to compete with teams from all over the world, both in speed and rhythm. We also have physical strength, decision-making capacity and individual skills. The international experience has given us a great advantage. It is something we can be proud of.”
