JOHANNESBURG   — Landon Donovan and Michael Bradley scored in a furious second-half comeback, giving the United States a 2-2 tie against Slovenia on Friday that kept alive the Americans’ chances of advancing in the World Cup.

Slovenia, the smallest of the 32 nations in the tournament, took a 2-0 lead when Valter Birsa caught goalkeeper Tim Howard flat-footed to score in the 13th minute and Zlatan Ljubijankic scored on a counterattack in the 42nd.

Donovan scored in the 48th minute and Michael Bradley, son of U.S. coach Bob Bradley, tied the score in the 82nd.

Second-half sub Maurice Edu appeared to put the U.S. ahead in the 86th, poking in close-range shot after Jozy Altidore headed Donovan’s free kick to him. But the goal was disallowed by referee Koman Couilibaly of Mali, apparently for a foul before Edu got the ball.

Slovenia (1-0-1) leads Group C with four points and would have qualified for the second round with a win.

The U.S. (0-0-2) is second with two points, tied with England (0-0-2). Algeria has one point. The top two teams in the group advance.

The United States never has won a World Cup in which it trailed.

England 0, Algeria 0

CAPE TOWN, South Africa  — Algeria held England to a 0-0 draw, leaving Group C wide open headed into the final game of first-round play.

With Wayne Rooney held without a goal for the seventh straight match, England lacked a scoring touch against an opponent fighting to avoid becoming the first nation eliminated from the tournament.

England hasn’t scored since the fourth minute of its opening match against the United States, also a draw. Algeria hasn’t scored at all.

The result was bound to turn up the heat on England, a pre-tournament favorite that already gave the U.S. a 1-1 draw when goalkeeper Robert Green muffed Clint Dempsey’s 25-yard in the opener. Now England has to face its inability to beat Algeria, the lowest-ranked team (30th) in the group.

Serbia 1, Germany 0

PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa  — Milan Jovanovic scored one minute after Germany striker Miroslav Klose was ejected, giving Serbia a 1-0 upset win over the three-time World Cup champions.

In a game with a tournament-high nine yellow cards, Serbia goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic stopped Lukas Podolski’s penalty kick for Germany in the 60th minute after Nemanja Vidic got a yellow for a hand ball.

Germany played a man down from the 37th, when Klose was ejected by Spanish referee Alberto Undiano following his second yellow card.

Jovanovic scored a minute later, controlling a header and firing in a side-foot shot from directly in front of goalkeeper Manual Neuer.

The victory gave Serbia its first World Cup win as an independent nation, and both teams now have three points after two games in Group D. Ghana also has three points, and plays its second match — against Australia — on Saturday.