Brazil End 24-Year Knockout Comeback Drought to Keep Hexa Dream Alive

Darwin, 30 June : Brazil rewrote a painful chapter of their FIFA World Cup history by coming from behind to defeat Japan in the knockout stage, ending a 24-year wait for a comeback victory after trailing in a World Cup knockout match.

The Seleção fell behind in the first half against Japan, extending a trend that had haunted them since lifting their fifth World Cup title in 2002. Since then, Brazil had failed to recover whenever they conceded first in a knockout match.

Their last such comeback had come on June 21, 2002, in the quarter-finals against England. Michael Owen gave England an early lead before Rivaldo equalized just before halftime, and Ronaldinho’s famous winner secured a 2-1 victory on Brazil’s way to the World Cup title.

Looking at World Cup history, Brazil have now recorded 15 comeback victories after conceding the opening goal. Seven of those came during the group stage, while the remaining eight occurred beyond the opening phase. Excluding the 1938 third-place playoff, Brazil had previously achieved six comeback wins in matches that directly determined qualification or the championship.

Two of Brazil’s five World Cup triumphs were built on dramatic fightbacks. In the 1958 final, Sweden took the lead through Nils Liedholm after just four minutes, but Brazil responded with goals from Vavá, Pelé and Mário Zagallo to claim a 5-2 victory. Four years later, Czechoslovakia struck first in the 1962 final through Josef Masopust before Amarildo, Zito and Vavá inspired a 3-1 comeback to deliver Brazil’s second consecutive world title.

Brazil’s earliest World Cup comebacks came in 1938, first in the quarter-final replay against Czechoslovakia and later in the third-place match against Sweden, where they overturned a two-goal deficit. The legendary 1970 side also came from behind against Czechoslovakia in the group stage and Uruguay in the semi-finals. In 1982, Brazil recovered after conceding first against both the Soviet Union and Scotland.

Since winning their fifth World Cup in 2002, Brazil had managed only two comeback victories after conceding first, both during the group stage—beating Japan 4-1 in 2006 and Croatia 3-1 in the opening match of the 2014 World Cup. However, every time they conceded first in a knockout match after 2002, they were eliminated: by France in 2006, Germany in 2014 and Belgium in 2018.

This time, though, Brazil finally broke the curse. After Sano’s first-half opener for Japan, Casemiro restored parity in the second half before Gabriel Martinelli struck a dramatic stoppage-time winner to seal a memorable victory.

With the long-standing knockout hoodoo finally behind them, Brazil have reignited belief that their quest for a long-awaited sixth World Cup title may yet become reality.