Keisuke Honda came off the bench to earn Japan a valuable point in a 2-2 draw with Senegal in Group H.
Having both won their opening fixtures, this meeting in Ekaterinburg was a chance for one nation to all-but seal their spot in the latter stages - but the draw means they will have to wait for their final games to try and secure qualification from their group.
Senegal started brightly and deservedly took the lead, albeit in fortuitous circumstances, with a little over 10 minutes on the clock.
A poor defensive header from Genki Haraguchi allowed Youssouf Sabaly to shoot - his tame effort only pushed against Sadio Mane by Eiji Kawashima, with the ball bouncing into the empty goal.
Japan, as they did against the 10 men of Colombia for much of their opening win, struggled to create clear-cut chances as Khadim N'Diaye remained untested in the Senegal goal.
That changed nine minutes before the interval as Yuto Nagatomo broke forward from left-back, with Takashi Inui on hand to bend in an equaliser as he took the ball from the defender.
Akira Nishino's side paid the price for their second-half profligacy as Senegal restored their lead courtesy of Moussa Wague's first international goal.
The 19-year-old full-back arrived at the back post with perfect timing to thrash home a low cross and put his side back on top.
Japan introduced Keisuke Honda and Shinji Okazaki from the bench as they looked to equalise for a second time. It was the former who would provide the goal, the experienced international turning home Inui's cross after N'Diaye had failed to deal with a routine ball into the penalty area.
Neither side could produce late drama to secure all three points but, with Japan facing Poland and Senegal to play Colombia, both know qualification to the latter stages remains in their own hands.
Opta match statistics
- Following this result, Senegal remain unbeaten against Japan in all four meetings (W2 D2 L0).
- Keisuke Honda scored in his third different World Cup finals tournament for Japan (2010, 2014, 2018) – he is the first Japanese player to do this.
- Keisuke Honda’s goal was his 37th for Japan, tying him level with Hiromi Hara as the 4th highest goalscorer for their national team – only Kunishige Kamamoto, Kazuyoshi Miura and Shinji Okazaki have more.
- Sadio Mane's 15 goals for Senegal have come against 14 different teams (only scored twice against Burundi). In fact, Japan are the first non-African side that the Senegal forward has scored against for his national team.
- Senegal's Moussa Wagué (19y 263d) became only the second teenager to score at the 2018 World Cup, after France's Kylian Mbappe.
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Page last updated at 1830 BST (24/06/18)
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