With the women’s whistle… South Africa avoid the Czech trap

On Thursday evening, in the second round of the World Cup group stage, the South African team drew 1-1 with the Czech Republic at the “Atlanta” stadium in the US state of Georgia.

The Czech team didn’t wait long and opened the scoring in the sixth minute through Michal Sadlech.

Bafana Bafana almost equalized before the end of the first half through Tapelo Maseko’s strike.

The Czechs had a dangerous chance to double the score in the 47th minute with a shot by Lukas Cerf, but goalkeeper Ronwen Williams cleared the ball from a corner kick.

South Africa won a penalty kick which was successfully converted by Teboho Mokoena in the 83rd minute to equalize for Bafana Bafana.

Both sides traded attacks until the referee’s whistle ended the match at 1-1.

The Czech Republic picked up its first point at the 2026 World Cup, as did South Africa, after both teams lost in the first round.

The Czech team lost 1-2 to South Korea in their first match, and the South African team lost to Mexico with two unanswered goals.

American referee Tori Penso officiated the match, becoming the first female referee at the 2026 World Cup finals.

France’s Stéphanie Fraparte is the first female referee to officiate a men’s World Cup match, and it was at the 2022 World Cup when she took over the duties of the match between Germany and Costa Rica.