Full Time
Japan and Sweden played out a 1-1 draw in Group F, and both teams are through to the Round of 32 — which tells you everything about the state of the group. Daizen Maeda put Japan ahead just after the hour, looking like they'd nicked second place, before Anthony Elanga curled in a gorgeous left-footed shot seven minutes later to level it — his second goal in as many World Cup matches, the show-off. Japan finish second and face Brazil next; Sweden sneak through as one of the best third-placed teams and will be quietly delighted with that. Neither side will mind too much how it ended.
Pre-match Talking Points
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1Japan need just a point to top Group F and go through as group winners — which, given they've already beaten Tunisia 4-0 and drawn with the Netherlands, feels very much on. Sweden, on the other hand, are in a proper mess: they beat Tunisia 5-1 in their opener, then immediately shipped five to the Dutch. Win tonight and they're very much alive; lose and start booking flights home.
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2These two have met four times before and Japan have never beaten Sweden — three draws and one Swedish win. Interestingly, this is the first time they've faced each other at a World Cup, so whoever wins gets to claim that record first. It's not a fierce historic rivalry, but Japan will be very keen to break their duck tonight.
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3Keep an eye on Alexander Isak, Sweden's striker who plays for Newcastle and has somehow managed to rack up more goal involvements at this tournament than any Swedish player at a World Cup since 1966 — one goal and three assists already. He missed the whole qualifying campaign with a broken leg, so the fact he's here at all is a minor miracle. If Sweden are going through, it's almost certainly going to be via him.
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4Japan are without their captain. Wataru Endō — the holding midfielder from Liverpool — picked up an injury on day one of the tournament and was ruled out before a ball was kicked. It's a significant absence: Endō is the player who makes Japan's midfield tick. Kō Itakura stepped up to the armband, and Japan have looked fine without him, but Sweden will know exactly where the gap is.
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5If Japan avoid defeat tonight, they'll go through the group stage of a World Cup unbeaten for only the second time in their history — the first being when they co-hosted the tournament back in 2002. Also worth noting: Ayase Ueda has two goals and an assist in this tournament, which is the joint most goal involvements by any Japan player at a single World Cup. A team with one eye on history playing a team with their backs against the wall. Could be fun.
Team Talking Points
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1Japan's World Cup ended in the Round of 32, beaten 2-1 by Brazil in about as cruel a way as football manages — Gabriel Martinelli scored the winner in the sixth minute of stoppage time, after Japan had led for most of the first half. Losing to a five-time champion by the smallest and latest possible margin is still losing, but it's the kind of exit that gets you more respect than most wins.
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2The high point was the goal that started it all: Kaishu Sano, a 25-year-old defensive midfielder who'd scored exactly one goal in the Bundesliga all season, drove at Brazil's midfield, brushed past Casemiro and beat Alisson from 20 yards for his first-ever international goal. For about an hour, Japan were genuinely threatening to knock Brazil out.
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3The turning point was Brazil's response — Casemiro equalising just after the hour, and then Martinelli's stoppage-time winner snatching it away in the last minute Japan had left to defend. There's no real misstep to point to; Japan simply ran out of time against a side with more firepower on the bench.
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4Sano was the name that came out of this tournament. A relative unknown outside Japan before the match, his goal against Brazil made him one of the breakout stories of the whole World Cup, on a team not exactly short of talented players.
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5Japan leave having taken a five-time World Cup winner to the very last kick of the game. That's the kind of near-miss that tends to get remembered a lot longer than a routine group-stage exit — and it's a solid marker for wherever this team goes next.
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Top thing to say down the pub
Japan led Brazil at the World Cup and lost it to a goal in the sixth minute of stoppage time — as gutting as football gets, and exactly the kind of near-miss that makes people take Japan seriously.
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Avoid saying
Don't say "Japan are just there to make up the numbers" — they were 96 minutes and one wonder goal away from knocking Brazil out of the World Cup; check the scoreline before assuming otherwise.
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1Sweden's World Cup ended 3-0 to France in the round of 32 on June 30, with Kylian Mbappé scoring twice to take his tournament tally to six goals — level with Lionel Messi — and Bradley Barcola adding a third. It was comprehensive and one-sided from the start; France were simply the better side all night, and Sweden never really got a foothold.
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2The high point was their opening game, a 5-1 win over Tunisia in which Alexander Isak was named Player of the Match after a goal and two assists. It was the perfect showcase for why the Gyökeres-Isak strike partnership had been talked up as one of the most exciting front pairings at the whole tournament.
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3The 5-1 defeat to the Netherlands a few games later was the same scoreline as their big win over Tunisia, just pointed the other way — a properly chastening evening that took the shine off their opening statement. Sweden regrouped well enough afterwards to draw Japan 1-1 and scrape through as one of the best third-placed teams, which says something about the character in this squad.
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4Alexander Isak is the one to talk about — a genuinely top-tier striker who was Player of the Match in Sweden's best performance of the tournament, and forms one half of a strike partnership with Viktor Gyökeres that most countries would love to have. Both are still young enough that this won't be their last World Cup.
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5The bigger picture matters more than the scoreline here: this was Sweden's first major tournament in five years, having missed both the 2022 World Cup and Euro 2024 entirely. Getting back, and getting out of the group while doing it, is exactly the kind of foundation a country builds a proper squad on — this generation, with Isak and Gyökeres still building their peak years, has every reason to be taken seriously next time.
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Top thing to say down the pub
First major tournament in five years, and they still made it out of the group with a striker pairing most countries would kill for — that's a proper comeback, even if France ended it comfortably.
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Avoid saying
"Shame Zlatan wasn't there" — Zlatan Ibrahimović retired from international football years before this squad even qualified; bringing him up now just tells everyone you haven't watched a Sweden game since he stopped playing.