Brazil is determined to have a more successful tournament after failing to get past the group stage at the 2023 Women's World Cup.
Coach Arthur Elias's team got off to an ideal start when Gabi Nunes scored the decisive goal to help the home team win 1-0 in the opening match against Nigeria. Thanks to this narrow victory, Brazil is closer to a ticket to the Olympic knockout round . They have also qualified for the group stage in all seven previous Olympics appearances.
In contrast to their opponents, the Japanese women's team started the Olympics with a defeat even though they led Spain early thanks to Aoba Fujino. But then Aitana Bonmati and Mariona Caldentey helped La Roja win in a dramatic comeback. That defeat ended the Green Samurai's streak of three consecutive victories.
Japan will be under a lot of pressure from home fans as they have passed the group stage in all four previous Olympic appearances. The Land of the Rising Sun team has also faced Brazil twice at the Olympics, losing 2-0 in the group stage in 1996 before winning 2-0 in the quarter-finals in 2012.
Probable teams
Brazilian women's team: Lorena; Antonia, Rafaelle, Tarciane, Yasmim; Ludmila, Yaya, Duda, Marta; Nunes, Portilho
Japanese women's team: Yamashita; Minami, Kumagai, Koga; Takahashi, Miyazawa, Fujino, Nagano; Hasegawa, Hamano; Tanaka
