The Real Madrid forward struck 19 minutes from time to secure victory for Hajime Moriyasu and his team against a South Africa side that offered little threat but who could have stolen a point late in the game.

Kubo’s curling effort went in off the inside of Ronwen Williams’ right post in the 71st minute to give Japan the lead but Luther Singh should have levelled the scores six minutes later with his side’s first effort on target, only to find the hands of goalkeeper Kosei Tani.

Takefusa Kubo’s strike was the difference between the nations as Japan made a winning start to their campaign in Group A of the Men's Football tournament at Tokyo Stadium, but Sampdoria defender Yoshida was unhappy with the way Hajime Moriyasu’s team performed in the opening exchanges.

Arnold had vowed ahead of the tournament that his players would shock the world in the extremely difficult Group C, and it took just 14 minutes for Western United forward Lachlan Wales to put them on the road to a momentous win with the opening goal following a Joel King cross.

The Olyroos’ cause was aided further when Argentine defender Francisco Ortega was given his marching orders for a second bookable offence just before half-time, and the points were made safe by a thumping strike from substitute Marco Tilio, who scored in his first involvement of the match with 10 minutes remaining.

The 2012 bronze medalists went into the Group B fixture as strong favourites against a side that had never won a match in their two previous appearances at the Games.

But the dominant East Asians found no way past a stubborn Olywhites backline and Chris Wood made them pay when he slotted home the winner 20 minutes from time.

After scoring four goals and earning no wins in their five friendly matches under Gustavsson, the Matildas flicked the switch in time for their first competitive outing since qualifying for the tournament in March 2020.

Japan fell behind to a sixth minute Christine Sinclair goal but Iwabuchi displayed her awesome talent when she collected a long-range pass, squeezed past two Canadian defenders before flicking the ball over substitute ‘keeper Kailen Sheridan to salvage a draw in the 84th minute.

China PR, fielding a largely inexperienced lineup, fell behind by two goals going into the break and were unable to stop Brazil from scoring three more in the second half at the Miyagi Stadium.