South Africa, the third opponent of the Korean national soccer team in the group stage of the 2026 North and Central America World Cup, won 1 point against the Czech Republic.
The South African national team drew 1-1 with the Czech Republic in the second match of Group A of the World Cup group stage held at Atlanta Stadium in the United States on the 19th (Korean time).
South Africa, which lost 0-2 in the opening match against Mexico on the 12th, earned 1 point and remained at the bottom of Group A.
South Africa will play the third game against Korea under coach Hong Myung-bo at the Monterrey Stadium in Mexico on the 25th.
The Czech Republic, who suffered a 1-2 comeback loss in the first game against Korea, was unable to maintain its lead on this day and had to reflect on a draw that felt like a defeat.
Korea and Mexico, who have secured 3 points by winning the first game, are set to face each other at Guadalajara Stadium in Mexico starting at 10 a.m. on this day.
South Africa, which suffered a complete loss in the opening match against Mexico with two players sent off, placed striker Lyle Foster, who plays for England's Burnley, on the bench and appointed Ikram Reiners, Oswin Apolis and Tapelo Maseko as the spearheads of the attack. Instead of the three backs used in the match against Mexico, the defense consisted of four backs against the Czech Republic.
The Czech Republic's leading striker, Patrick Sic, came to the forefront following the Korean game and teamed up with Adam Hlozek, and they used a three-back defense with 'captain' Ladislav Krejic, who scored a goal in the Korean game, as one axis.
The Czech Republic opened fire 6 minutes after the game started.
Hlozek's ball from the right flank was connected by Aleksandr Soika from the penalty arc, and midfielder Michal Sadilek finished with his left foot inside the penalty area to score the first goal.
South Africa, who raised their line and launched a counterattack but were unable to make up for it, faced 'bad card news' again in the 33rd minute of the first half.
Teboho Mokoena, who started as a starting midfielder, received a warning in the 33rd minute of the first half for an excessive tackle on Czech Lukasz Cherv, and was confirmed to miss the third game against Korea due to accumulated warnings.
In the extra time of the first half, South Africa finished the first half with Maseko breaking to the right and crossing the ball from Aubrey Modiba, which was blocked by Czech goalkeeper Matej Kovarsi.
In the second half, South Africa actively used substitution cards, such as replacing Rainers with Evidence Makpa, and dominated the atmosphere throughout, which paid off in the final minutes of the game.
In the 36th minute of the second half, Maseko's strong shot from the right side of the penalty area hit the hand of Czech Pavel Schulz, resulting in a penalty kick being declared for a handball foul.
Mokoena, who could not play in the next game, took on the role as a kicker and scored the tying goal with a clean right foot kick to alleviate the disappointment.
Afterwards, the two teams exchanged waves of attacks, but in the extra time, neither team was able to score a goal, with Schultz's left-footed shot on the left side of the penalty arc slightly missing the right side of the goal.
The match between Czech coach Miroslav Koubek, born in September 1951, the second-oldest player in World Cup history, and South African coach Hugo Bros, born in April 1952, ranked third, also attracted attention from the referees.
U.S. referee Tori Fenso became the second female referee to preside over a men's World Cup match, and assistant referees Brooke Mayo and Kathryn Nesbitt (both of the U.S.) also served as assistant referees.
On this day, 67,442 spectators entered Atlanta Stadium, which has a capacity of 68,239 as announced by FIFA.
