A late penalty from Teboho Mokoena secured South Africa a 1-1 draw with the Czech Republic football in Atalanta, which keeps alive both sides’ hopes of qualification from Group A at World Cup 2026.
After Patrik Schick headed an early chance wide at the far post, the Czechs – showing five changes from the 2-1 defeat to South Korea, including West Ham midfielder Tomas Soucek dropped to the bench – took the lead in the sixth minute.
Adam Hlozek raced on to a throw-in down the right and cut the ball back to the edge of box where Alexandr Sojka fed Michal Sadilek to clip his finish past South Africa keeper Ronwen Williams for the quickest goal of the tournament so far.
South Africa, who had Yaya Sithole and Themba Zwane sent off in their opening 2-0 loss to co-hosts Mexico at the Azteca Stadium, looked for a response as Oswin Appollis’ 25-yard effort was deflected behind ahead of the first hydration break, which was met by a chorus of boos from fans at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where the roof was closed.
The tempo dropped heading towards half-time before Thapelo Maseko was played into the right side of the Czech penalty area, but his angled effort was cut out at the near post.
South Africa looked to freshen up their attack for the second half by sending on Orlando Pirates forward Relebohile Mofokeng. It was, though, the Czech Republic who went close to doubling their lead soon after the restart.
Vladimir Darida saw his close-range shot blocked before Lukas Cerv’s speculative effort was tipped over. From the resulting corner, Bayer Leverkusen frontman Schick then headed straight at Williams
The mid-half hydration break was again greeted with jeers from the stands before South Africa were awarded a penalty with nine minutes left for handball by Czech substitute Pavel Sulc, having been struck at point-blank range from a shot by Maseko. Mokoena made no mistake from the spot, slotting the ball to the left and sending Matej Kovar the wrong way.
Neither side was able to find a late winner – Evidence Makgopa shooting straight at Kovar after a strong turn on the edge of the box – which leaves both countries still with some hope of making the last 32. The Czech Republic face Mexico at the Azteca in their final group game while South Africa take on South Korea in Monterrey.
South Africa coach Hugo Broos felt “very proud” of his team. “When you see the reaction after our game against Mexico, this is Bafana Bafana,” he said in his pitch-side interview, broadcast on BBC One. “We play good football, we are aggressive, we had chances, but you need also a little bit of luck.
“Now we don’t have to count on someone else. We just have to win the game against South Korea, which will be very difficult too, but when we play with the same mentality I think it is possible.”
Czech Republic boss Miroslav Koubek accepted his side had paid the price for not putting the game out of South Africa’s reach.
“We are sorry about the result because I think that, taking a look at the chances, we were closer to victory, but were not able to score the second goal. If we did, it would probably be the end of the match,” Koubek said at the post-match press conference.
On the penalty, Koubek added: “These are situations which sometimes end up in a positive way for you and sometimes negative. Today we were not lucky. I accept the referee’s decision, even though a penalty was quite strict, it was OK that she called it a handball.”
