TheCameroon national football team (French:Équipe du Cameroun de football), also known as theIndomitable Lions (French:les lions indomptables),[a] representsCameroon in men's internationalfootball. It is controlled by theFédération Camerounaise de Football, a member ofFIFA and its African confederationCAF.
The team has qualified for theFIFA World Cup eight times, more than any other African team, and four times in a row between1990 and2002. However, the team has only made it out of the group stage once. They were the first African team to reach the quarter-final of the World Cup[5] in 1990, losing toEngland in extra time. They have also won fiveAfrica Cup of Nations.
Cameroon played its first match againstBelgian Congo in 1956, losing 3–2. They first qualified for theAfrica Cup of Nations in1970, but were knocked out in the first round. Two years later, as hosts, the Indomitable Lions finished third after being knocked out by their neighbors and future champions Congo in the1972 Africa Cup of Nations. They would not qualify for the competition for another ten years.
Cameroon qualified for its firstFIFA World Cup in 1982. With the increase from 16 teams to 24, Cameroon qualified along withAlgeria to represent Africa at the tournament in Spain. Cameroon was drawn into Group 1 withItaly,Poland, andPeru. In their first game, Cameroon faced Peru and drew 0–0. They then held Poland goalless before a surprise 1–1 draw with eventual winners Italy. Despite being unbeaten, they failed to qualify for the second round, having scored fewer goals than Italy.
Two years later, Cameroon qualified for the1984 Africa Cup of Nations, held inIvory Coast. They finished second in their first-round group before beating Algeria on penalties in the semi-final. In the final, Cameroon beatNigeria 3–1 with goals fromRené N'Djeya,Théophile Abega andErnest Ebongué to become champions of Africa for the first time.
Cameroon qualified for the1990 World Cup by surpassing Nigeria and beatingTunisia in the final round playoff. In the final tournament, Cameroon were drawn into Group B withArgentina,Romania and theSoviet Union. Cameroon defeated defending champions Argentina in the opening game 1–0 with a goal scored byFrançois Omam-Biyik. Cameroon later defeated Romania 2–1 and lost to the Soviet Union 0–4, becoming the first side to top a World Cup Finals group with a negative goal difference. In the second round, Cameroon defeatedColombia 2–1 with the 38-year-oldRoger Milla scoring two goals in extra-time.
In the quarter-finals, Cameroon facedEngland. After 25 minutes, England'sDavid Platt scored for England, while in the second-half, Cameroon came back with a 61st-minute penalty fromEmmanuel Kundé and took the lead withEugène Ekéké on 65 minutes. England, however, equalized in the 83rd minute with a penalty fromGary Lineker, while Lineker again found the net via a 105th-minute penalty to make the eventual scoreline 3–2 for England. The team was coached by Russian manager and former playerValeri Nepomniachi.
Countries qualified for the1994 FIFA World Cup are shown in dark greenThe national football team of Cameroon
The1994 World Cup in the United States saw the adjustment of representation for African teams qualifying, from two to three. Cameroon qualified along with Nigeria andMorocco. In the final tournament, Cameroon were drawn into Group B withSweden,Brazil andRussia. After a 2–2 draw against Sweden, Cameroon lost to Brazil and Russia sealed their elimination. In their last game against Russia, the then 42-year-old Roger Milla became the oldest player to play and score in a World Cup finals match. The team was coached by French-bornHenri Michel.The1998 World Cup in France saw an increase of 24 to 32 teams, with Cameroon one of the five countries representing Africa. Cameroon were drawn into Group B with Italy,Chile andAustria. Despite drawing with Chile and Austria (after leading 1–0 against them until the 90th minute), a 3–0 defeat to Italy saw Cameroon finish bottom of the group. Cameroon had three players sent off in the course of the tournament, more than any other team. They also had the highest card count per game of any team, collecting an average of four bookings in each match they played.[8] It was also during this tournament that a certainSamuel Eto'o was exposed to Cameroonians. He was the youngest player of the tournament alongsideMichael Owen of England. The team was coached by French-bornClaude Le Roy.
Cameroon qualified for the2002 World Cup in Korea-Japan, clinching first place in their group which includedAngola,Zambia andTogo. Cameroon were drawn into Group E alongsideGermany, theRepublic of Ireland andSaudi Arabia. Cameroon started with a 1–1 draw with Ireland after giving up the lead and later defeated Saudi Arabia 1–0. In their last game, Cameroon were defeated 2–0 by Germany and were narrowly eliminated by the Irish, who had not lost a game.
Cameroon started the2002 African Cup of Nations competition with a 1–0 win overDR Congo. That was followed by another 1–0 win againstIvory Coast, and a comfortable 3–0 win against Togo. These results led Cameroon to qualify from the group stage to the quarter-finals as their group's winner. In the knockout stage,M'Boma's goal in the 62nd minute lifted Cameroon over Egypt 1–0. Cameroon would defeat hostsMali 3–0 in the semi-final on 7 February on route to repeating as champions by edging Senegal 3–2 on penalties following a scoreless 120 minutes on 13 February, and thereby qualifying for the2003 Confederations Cup in France.[9]
There, the Indomitable Lions became the first African country to defeat Brazil, courtesy of Samuel Eto'o's tally in the 83rd minute of their opening match on 13 June.[6] Cameroon subsequently defeated Turkey and drew the USA before dispatchingColombia in the semi-final. However, the latter was overshadowed by the sudden on-field collapse of Cameroon midfielderMarc-Vivien Foé in the 71st minute.[10] Medics spent 45 minutes attempting to restart his heart, and although he was still alive upon arrival at the stadium's medical centre, he died shortly afterwards.[11] An autopsy determined the cause of death to have beenhypertrophic cardiomyopathy, an hereditary condition known to increase the risk of sudden death during physical exercise.[12] The Final on June 29 against France, consequently, became not about the game but rather an occasion for both teams and fans to honor Foé. France prevailed 1-0 followingThierry Henry's golden goal in the 7th minute of extra time, but abstained from traditional post-match celebrations. Instead, the tournament closed with one last tribute to Foé as Cameroon took a lap around the stadium holding a large photo of their fallen teammate.[13]
In the2006 World Cup qualifying round, Cameroon were drawn into Group 3 with the Ivory Coast,Egypt,Libya,Sudan andBenin. Cameroon led the group until their final game, whenPierre Womé failed to convert a late penalty. On 8 October 2005, Cameroon drew with Egypt 1–1 while eventual World Cup debutants Ivory Coast defeated Sudan 3–1, preventing Cameroon from travelling toGermany.
In Cameroon's2010 World Cup qualifying campaign, the team was grouped withGabon, Togo and Morocco. After a slow start in their campaign with a loss to Togo, the coach of Cameroon,Otto Pfister, resigned. FrenchmanPaul Le Guen was appointed as the new coach after a draw against Morocco. Le Guen's appointment caused an uprise in Cameroon's spirits as they earned a win against Gabon inLibreville, followed by another win against the Panthers four days later inYaoundé. One month later, they defeated Togo in Yaoundé by three goals. On 14 November 2009, Cameroon defeated the Atlas Lions of Morocco 2–0 inFez in their last match of their campaign. Gabon was also defeated by Togo 1–0 inLomé. Both results caused Cameroon to qualify for the2010 World Cup finals, held in South Africa.[14]
The Indomitable Lions were the first team to be mathematically eliminated in the 2010 World Cup, going out in their second group match toDenmark after losing 1–2, preceded by a 0–1 defeat toJapan.
Between 2013 and 2015,Volker Finke was the manager of the national football team of Cameroon.
Cameroon started the2017 Africa Cup of Nations competition with a 1–1 draw toBurkina Faso, followed by a 2–1 win againstGuinea-Bissau, and an unconvincing goalless draw against the hosts Gabon. These results were enough for Cameroon to qualify from the group stage to the quarter-finals, where they met Senegal in a close match that Cameroon won 5–4 in apenalty shootout after it had ended goalless inextra time. In the semi-finals, Cameroon metGhana and won the match 2–0 to qualify to the final.
On 5 February 2017, and after a close match, Cameroon won the African Cup of Nations for the fifth time after defeating seven-time champions Egypt 2–1 in thefinal,[15] byVincent Aboubakar's late goal in the 89th minute of the match.[16]As champions, Cameroon qualified for the2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia, where they were eliminated in the group stage.
Cameroon qualified for the2022 World Cup in Qatar via theaway goals rule after defeating hosts Algeria 2–1 on 29 March 2022 thanks toKarl Toko Ekambi's winner in the 124th minute of the second leg of theirCAFthird round home-and-away tie with The Fennec Foxes.[17] On 2 December 2022, in the final match ofGroup G, The Indomitable Lions made history by becoming the first African country to defeat Brazil at the World Cup. Vincent Aboubakar netted the contest's lone goal in the 2nd minute of stoppage time, and subsequently received his second booking anddismissal for removing his shirt during his celebration. It was the Seleção's first group stage loss since a 2–1 defeat to Norway in 1998 and Cameroon's first ever World Cup win since 2002.[18] Cameroon failed to advance from their group, however, as they finished third behind Brazil and Switzerland, respectively.[19]
After the dramatic qualification process for the previous World Cup, the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon had to wait until the last day to secure their ticket for theAfCoN 2023 (scheduled to be played in January 2024) inIvory Coast. Despite a relatively favorable draw for the qualifiers, which includedNamibia,Burundi, andKenya (the latter eliminated due to administrative interference), the Cameroonian team faced significant challenges. They struggled against the modest Namibian team, managing a 1–1 draw in Yaoundé and then suffering a 2–1 loss in South Africa. After securing a 1–0 victory over Burundi in the first leg, they needed to confirm their qualification in the second leg to avoid missing out on the continent's most prestigious competition, which would have meant watching it on television. In a packedRoumde Adja stadium on Tuesday, September 12, the Indomitable Lions secured their spot in the AfCoN 2024 thanks to goals fromBryan Mbeumo (46'),Christopher Wooh (59'), and Vincent Aboubakar (90+3').
Cameroon used sleevelessPuma shirts at the2002 African Cup of Nations in Mali, which they won for the fourth time.FIFA, however, did not allow Cameroon to use the same kits as at the 2002 World Cup, and black sleeves were added to the shirts.[21] The2004 African Cup of Nations witnessed Cameroon again run into controversy regarding their kits. Puma had designed a one-piece kit for the Cameroon team which FIFA declared illegal, stating that the kits must have separate shirts and shorts.[22] FIFA then imposed fines on Cameroon and deducted six points from their qualifying campaign.[23][24] Puma argued that a two-piece kit is not stated as a requirement in the FIFA laws of the game. Puma, however, lost the case in court, and Cameroon were forced to wear two-piece kits, but FIFA subsequently restored the six qualifying points to Cameroon.[25][26][27]
INJ = Withdrew from the squad due to injury SUS = Serving suspension PRE = Preliminary squad / standby RET = Retired from international football WD = Withdrew from the squad
