Teboho Mokoena scored a late penalty as South Africa salvaged a 1-1 draw against Czechia to keep their hopes of World Cup progression alive.

Michal Sadilek scored an early goal to give Czechia the advantage, having come into the starting line-up as one of five changes from their opening match and making an instant impression in Atlanta.

But Mokoena scored from the spot with seven minutes remaining on Thursday after Czechia substitute Pavel Sulc was penalised for a handball as he attempted to block a shot from Thapelo Maseko.

South Africa would have been on the brink of elimination had Czechia held on for victory, but the two sides are now level on one point each after two matches in the tournament, with the outcome of Group A set to go the distance.

Czechia made a fast start, and Patrik Schick had already wasted a golden opportunity before their sixth-minute opener, which came after impressive work from Adam Hlozek, another of the players brought into the team by veteran coach Miroslav Koubek.

Hlozek displayed clever movement from a long throw-in to burst through down the right, and his cut-back led to a superb first-time pass from Alexandr Sojka, setting up a low left-footed finish from Sadilek.

South Africa began to gain a foothold in the match, and a deflected effort from Oswin Appollis was only narrowly off target, while Iqraam Rayners and Maseko were both unable to fully capitalise on two presentable openings.

Vladimir Darida, Lukas Cerv and Schick all threatened as Czechia looked to replicate their fast start when the second period began, but the result was still hanging in the balance as the match moved into its closing stages.

Matej Kovar made the most comfortable save from substitute Evidence Makgopa as South Africa finally registered their first attempt on target in the 74th minute.

But Kovar was then powerless to deny Mokoena, who calmly kept his nerve to send the Czechia goalkeeper the wrong way from 12 yards.

Buoyed by their equaliser, it was South Africa who had the best chances in the final moments, with Relebohile Mofokeng and Makgopa almost grabbing an unlikely victory for Bafana Bafana.

Czechia lose the lead yet again

There were few signs of nerves when Czechia made a spectacular start to proceedings, with Sadilek choosing the perfect moment to score just his second international goal.

Timed at 5:07, his strike is the earliest goal so far in this year’s World Cup so far, and the fastest for Czechia in the competition since Jan Koller’s effort against the United States in 2006 (4:49).

While South Africa were enjoying more of the possession throughout, Czechia were looking the most likely to score a second goal, but Koubek’s men were unable to make the result safe, and seemed to be aware of their World Cup history as South Africa continued to grow in confidence.

No side has lost more World Cup games after going 1-0 up than Czechia (eight – level with Sweden), a statistic that included their 2-1 defeat in MD1 against South Korea.

And while Czechia were not beaten here, their inability to convert the lead to a victory could ultimately prove fatal to their hopes, with South Africa buoyant after their late equaliser and pushing on to become the more threatening team in the final minutes.

Mokoena’s penalty was South Africa’s first at the World Cup since former Manchester United winger Quinton Fortune netted against Paraguay in 2002, another spot-kick which salvaged a late draw.

Despite Czechia leading for most of the contest, it is hard to argue about the result, as both sides finished with similar totals for shots (14 for Czechia, 17 for South Africa), with Bafana Bafana generating a slightly higher expected goals (xG) total (1.37 to 1.02), helped by being awarded a penalty.

There is now huge pressure on Czechia before they face a huge test against co-hosts Mexico on June 24, while South Africa will conclude their group campaign against South Korea on the same date.