Unfortunately, Broos is proud of his team's fight despite the draw against the Czechs
June 26, 2026 · Global
South Africa managed to rescue a point against the Czechs in their World Cup clash, with Teboho Mokoena scoring a late penalty. Coach Hugo Broos expressed his pride in the team's performance despite missed opportunities to win.
Hugo Broos was proud of the fight the South African team showed to salvage a draw against the Czechs, but admitted it was "a shame" the match ended 1-1. Teboho Mokoena's 83rd-minute penalty ensured South Africa did not start their World Cup campaign with back-to-back defeats after Michal Sadilek opened the scoring first.
Bafana Bafana have now avoided defeat in a World Cup match after conceding the first goal, for the third time (P7 L4), previously also done against Denmark in 1998 (1-1) and Paraguay in 2002 (2-2). Mokoena's penalty was their first penalty in the World Cup since Quinton Fortune scored from the spot in the match against Paraguay.
South Africa had more chances (17 to 14) and more shots on target (four to three), while their expected goals (xG) was also slightly higher than the Czechs (1.4 to 1.0), although that figure was lifted slightly by penalties. The Broos team went close to victory, with Relebohile Mofokeng and Evidence Makgopa both testing goalkeeper Matej Kovar, leaving their coach slightly disappointed at not being able to take home the three points.
"I'm very proud of my team," Broos told SABC Sport. "When you look at the reaction after the game against Mexico, this is Bafana Bafana - we played good football, we were aggressive, we had chances."
"But you also need a bit of luck, and we made one mistake; everyone knows that number five [Vladimir Coufal] throws long, but at the start of the game, we were surprised by that."
"It's a shame. But once again, I'm very proud of my team's performance." Points shared in #WorldCup Groups — FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) [June 18, 2026]
Meanwhile, the Czechs failed to win in their first two matches (D1 L1) in a World Cup tournament for the first time since 1982 (also D1 L1). They also became the first team to score first goals in their opening two games but fail to win in both since Tunisia in 2006.
It was Pavel Sulc's hand foul that gave away the penalty, as he was deemed to have made a bigger move to block Thapelo Maseko's shot, and Mirosav Koubek was left to rue their late lapse as South Africa increased the pressure.
"We are disappointed with this result because I think if we saw the opportunities, we were closer to winning, but we made mistakes that cost us points," said Koubek. "However, we played better in the second half."
The Czechs and South Africa both have a chance of progressing from Group A with one point each, but will likely need to pick up a win in their final group game on June 24. The Czechs face hosts Mexico, while Bafana Bafana clash with South Korea.