South Africa came from behind to draw 1-1 with Czechia, keeping World Cup hopes alive in Group A. Teboho Mokoena scored an 83rd-minute penalty after Michal Sadilek’s early goal, leaving both teams on one point and likely needing victory on 24 June to reach the knockout rounds.
The draw extended a useful pattern for Bafana Bafana at World Cups. South Africa have now avoided defeat after conceding first for the third time in seven tournament matches. Previous comebacks came against Denmark in 1998, which ended 1-1, and against Paraguay in 2002, which finished 2-2.
Czechia struck first when Sadilek finished an early move, putting South Africa under pressure again after defeat to Mexico. Hugo Broos’ side responded with greater control as the game went on, increasing pressure throughout the second half before finally drawing level from the spot through Mokoena late on.
Mokoena’s penalty carried extra historic weight for South Africa. It was Bafana Bafana’s first World Cup spot-kick conversion since Quinton Fortune scored against Paraguay in 2002. The goal also prevented South Africa opening this World Cup campaign with two straight losses, which would have weakened their qualification chances.
Match numbers showed South Africa creating slightly better opportunities than Czechia across the 90 minutes. Broos’ team had 17 attempts to Czechia’s 14, and hit the target four times compared with three. Expected goals also favoured Bafana Bafana at 1.4 against 1.0, with the late penalty raising their xG figure.
Relebohile Mofokeng and Evidence Makgopa both forced strong saves from goalkeeper Matej Kovar as South Africa chased a winner. Those close-range chances underlined the shift in momentum after the break. Broos felt the team’s attacking intent and aggression showed a very different response from the performance against Mexico earlier in Group A.
Broos expressed mixed feelings after the match, praising character but regretting the single defensive lapse from a long throw.
“I think I’m very proud of my team,” Broos told SABC Sport. “When you see the reaction after the game against Mexico, this is Bafana Bafanawe play good football, we are aggressive, we have chances. But you need also a little bit, and we made one mistake; everyone knows that number five [Vladimir Coufal] is throwing very far, but in the beginning of the game, we were surprised by that. It’s a pity. But again, I’m very proud of the performance of my team.”
South Africa vs Czechia World Cup group outlook
Czechia’s draw continued a difficult start to this World Cup campaign. Miroslav Koubek’s side have now taken only one point from two matches, with one draw and one defeat. It is the first World Cup since 1982 that Czechia have failed to win either of their opening two fixtures.
Koubek’s team also matched an unwanted statistic from past tournaments. Czechia became the first side since Tunisia in 2006 to score first in both opening World Cup matches yet not win either. The key setback here came when Pavel Sulc handled a Thapelo Maseko shot, with the referee ruling Sulc had made the body shape larger.
Koubek regretted the late penalty award, feeling Czechia had done enough overall to claim victory. “We’re disappointed with this result because I think that, if we look at the chances, we were closer to winning, but we made a mistake that cost us the tie,” Koubek said. “Despite that, we played better in the second half.”
Both South Africa and Czechia now face decisive fixtures on 24 June to stay in the World Cup. Czechia meet co-hosts Mexico, while Bafana Bafana take on South Korea. With each team sitting on one point, results in those matches are likely to determine which nations progress from Group A.