Teboho Mokoena’s late penalty rescued South Africa a 1-1 draw with the Czech Republic as the Bafana Bafana fought back from an early deficit at the World Cup.
The Czechs struck inside six minutes when Michal Sadílek finished a neat lay-off for the tournament’s earliest goal so far, but South Africa gradually settled and finally forced a breakthrough when Thapelo Maseko’s shot struck Pavel Šulc’s arm in the 83rd minute. Mokoena calmly converted the spot-kick into the left corner to level the game. The point leaves both teams with work to do in Group A Mexico and South Korea currently sit above them but qualification remains open: with the eight best third-placed sides progressing, three points from the final group match could be enough. South Africa face South Korea on 25 June (02:00 BST), while the Czech Republic meet co-hosts Mexico at the same time.
