Japan beat Uruguay 3–1 in an international friendly at Q&A Stadium Miyagi on Thursday, 24 September, turning a level contest into a clear win with two goals deep into the closing stages.
The Japan Football Association records Kuryu Matsuki as the opening scorer in the 11th minute. Uruguay responded before half-time through Maximiliano Araújo, whose 42nd-minute goal sent the teams into the break at 1–1.
The score remained level for almost the entire second half. Japan then struck twice in stoppage time: Kento Shiogai scored in the 90+1st minute and Ayase Ueda added another in the 90+6th minute. The late burst produced the 3–1 final score reflected in the official JFA result.
A tight game decided very late
The timing of the goals is the clearest feature of the match. Japan had led early, Uruguay recovered before the interval, and neither side added to the score through the first 45 minutes of the second half. The two stoppage-time goals changed both the result and the final margin.
Shiogai had entered the match in the 83rd minute, while Ueda came on in the 63rd. Their goals gave Japan a strong finish after Hajime Moriyasu made several second-half substitutions. The JFA match record also shows Takefusa Kubo, Junya Ito, Daichi Kamada and Ao Tanaka among the players introduced from the bench.
For Uruguay, Araújo supplied the only goal. The Uruguayan Football Association confirmed the 3–1 defeat and listed Diego Forlán as the national-team coach for the fixture. It was Uruguay's first friendly of the September-October international window under Forlán.
Japan continue their post-World Cup programme
The friendly was Japan's first senior international since their 2026 World Cup campaign ended with a 2–1 defeat to Brazil in the round of 32, according to the JFA's 2026 schedule. That makes the Uruguay match part of a new cycle rather than a competitive qualifier, with Japan already qualified for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup.
There was also measurable South African interest around the fixture. The supplied LiveScores trend signal recorded more than 2,000 for the query “japan vs uruguay” when observed early on Friday morning. That number should be treated as an interest signal only, not as an exact search-volume measurement.
What it means / what happens next
Japan do not have long to wait for their next test. The JFA lists Venezuela as their next opponent in another Kirin Challenge Cup friendly on Monday, 28 September at Edion Peace Wing Hiroshima. Kick-off is scheduled for 19:25 in Japan, which is 12:25 SAST.
The wider September-October programme then continues with Japan hosting Ecuador on 1 October. After a 3–1 win against a South American opponent, those fixtures give Moriyasu another opportunity to assess his squad ahead of the next major competitive phase.