Update, November 14, 2026, 6:04 PM IST: Japan beat Brazil 3-2 in Singapore in the first of Hajime Moriyasu’s final two matches as head coach. Substitute Tatsuhiro Sakamoto struck in stoppage time after Vinicius Junior’s double had brought Brazil back from two goals down. Moriyasu’s last match remains the Paraguay friendly on November 17, not this Brazil win.
Sakamoto settles five-goal Singapore friendly
The J.League’s official match record lists Takefusa Kubo and Keito Nakamura as Japan’s first-half scorers, with Sakamoto scoring in the first minute of added time. The JFA’s results page also confirms Japan’s 3-2 victory.
Kubo opened the scoring in the 15th minute and Nakamura made it 2-0 four minutes later. Vinicius replied in the 33rd and 75th minutes, according to the official match record, before Sakamoto delivered Japan’s late winner.
The Straits Times’ match report describes Brazil’s protests over the build-up to the winning goal and Carlo Ancelotti’s dismissal after he entered the pitch. Brazil had also threatened a winner of their own when substitute Endrick hit the crossbar.
The result gives Moriyasu’s farewell camp a winning start, but does not change the departure timetable confirmed by the JFA on Friday. Japan next face Paraguay in Singapore on Tuesday, November 17. The earlier report below explains why that match, rather than the previously planned December friendly, is his last in charge.
Earlier: Japan confirms Moriyasu’s departure date
Hajime Moriyasu at Japan’s friendly against Thailand on January 1, 2024. Archive photo, not Friday’s Singapore press conference. Photo: RuinDig/Yuki Uchida / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0. Cropped, resized and compressed.
Hajime Moriyasu’s final match as Japan head coach will be against Paraguay in Singapore on Tuesday, November 17, the Japan Football Association confirmed on Friday. Saturday’s Brazil friendly was the first of his final two matches, with the Paraguay game still to come.
The change follows the postponement of the 2027 Asian Cup. Moriyasu had been due to stay through that tournament before handing over to Go Oiwa, but the revised calendar has brought his departure forward.
What has the JFA confirmed?
In its November 13 announcement, the JFA cancelled the Kirin Challenge Cup friendly scheduled for December 30 at Panasonic Stadium Suita in Osaka. The match had been planned as preparation for the Asian Cup, originally due to begin in January.
The same notice explicitly identifies the November 17 Paraguay match as Moriyasu’s last game in charge. That makes the immediate position clear: he remains coach for both Singapore friendlies, rather than leaving before the Brazil match.
Why the departure date changed
AFP reports that the Asian Cup has moved to December 2027, leaving a much longer gap than the short extension Moriyasu had originally been given. His departure is therefore tied to the changed tournament timetable, not a newly announced dismissal following a result.
Kyodo reports that Oiwa is expected to take charge for the first time in a home friendly in March. That is the reported next step; Friday’s JFA cancellation notice does not announce a new match or provide an exact handover ceremony date.
Two final tests in Singapore
Moriyasu has led Japan since 2018. His side beat Germany and Spain at the 2022 World Cup before losing to Croatia on penalties in the last 16. This year’s World Cup ended against Brazil in the round of 32, giving Saturday’s friendly an immediate competitive reference point, although it carried no tournament points.
At Friday’s press conference, reported by The Straits Times, Moriyasu stressed the importance of a deeper squad and competing with Brazil on equal terms. The task for his final camp is to test that progress before Japan moves into its next coaching cycle.
