Cameroon national football team

This article is about the Cameroonian men's national soccer team . For the women's team, see Cameroonian Women's National Football Team .

Republic of Cameroon
République du Cameroun

Nickname (s)	Lions Indomptables (The Indomitable Lions)
Association	Federation Camerounaise de Football
confederacy	CAF
Technical sponsor	Le Coq Sportif
Head coach	António Conceiçao (since 2019)
Assistant coach	Omam Biyick
captain	Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting
Record scorer	Samuel Eto'o (56)
Record player	Rigobert Song (137)
Home stadium	Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium
FIFA code	CMR
FIFA rank	53rd (1413 points) (as of July 16, 2020)
First jersey Second jersey
statistics
First international game Cameroon 9: 2 Somalia Madagascar ; April 13, 1960
Biggest win Cameroon 9-2 Somalia Madagascar ; April 13, 1960
Biggest defeats Norway 6-1 Cameroon ( Oslo , Norway ; October 31, 1990) Russia 6-1 Cameroon ( San Francisco , USA ; June 28, 1994)
Successes in tournaments
World Championship
Participation in the finals	7 ( first : 1982 )
Best results	Quarter-finals 1990
African Championship
Participation in the finals	19 ( first : 1970 )
Best results	African champions 1984, 1988, 2000, 2002, 2017
(As of February 5, 2017)

The Cameroon national football team is the official football selection of the African country of Cameroon . It is subordinate to the national association Fédération Camerounaise de Football .

The team won the Africa Cup five times , most recently in 2017 . Another success was reaching the quarter-finals of the 1990 World Cup .

history

Old logo until 2010

Beginnings

Allegedly, the photographer Georges Goethe from Sierra Leone , who lived in the Cameroonian city of Douala , brought the soccer game to Cameroon in 1923. The Cameroon national football team was formed in 1950 after officials made a trip to France from September 13 to October 21, 1950 . The first game against the French amateur club OGC Nice lost the selection of Cameroon 2: 3.

Since October 31, 1972, the national team has also been officially known as the "Indomitable Lions". Cameroon hosted the African Championship in 1972.

1980s

1982 Cameroon reached the World Cup finals for the first time . With the legendary Thomas N'Kono in goal, the team fought three draws against Peru , Poland and Italy , but it wasn't enough to advance: Cameroon was eliminated from eventual world champions Italy due to fewer goals scored.

In 1984 the team became African champions for the first time with a 3-1 win over Nigeria . At the African Cup of Nations in 1986 , the Cameroonians also reached the final, but lost to the hosts from Egypt on penalties. The second title was won again in 1988 by defeating Nigeria (1-0).

1990s

The Cameroonian national team was the first African country to reach a quarter-finals in a World Cup . At the 1990 World Cup , the selection from Cameroon only lost to England in extra time . Already in the opening game, the team surprisingly won 1-0 against defending champions Argentina .

The self-confidence of the Cameroonians was dampened when they suddenly missed participation in the Africa Cup in 1994 . The French Henri Michel became the new national coach and qualified for the World Cup .

After a draw with Sweden and a clear defeat against Brazil, Cameroon lost to Russia in their last game. Russian Oleg Salenko scored five goals in his team's 6-1 win. The interim 1-3 goal was scored by substitute Roger Milla , who put the end of his career and at the same time became the oldest World Cup scorer of all time. Despite the 6-1 win, Russia and Cameroon were eliminated from the tournament.

At the African Cup of Nations in 1996 , Cameroon did not get beyond the preliminary round. The team also disappointed at the 1998 World Cup and did not get beyond a draw against Austria and Chile.

2000s

In 2002, Cameroon was able to repeat the success of the African Championship two years earlier: In Mali , coach Winfried Schäfer's team defended their title and remained clean in six games. Patrick M'Boma and Salomon Olembé were the tournament's top scorer with three goals each, sharing the title with Nigerian Aghahowa , who also scored three times.

At the World Cup in Japan and South Korea, Cameroon was once again unable to achieve success: Although the team had been voted “Team of the Century” shortly before, they only managed to win against Saudi Arabia. The 0: 2 against the eventual finalists Germany meant the end. In the following year, however, Cameroon reached the final of the Confed Cup , after u. a. defeated the reigning world champion Brazil and was only relegated to second place by a golden goal from France .

Cameroon versus Germany 2004

In 2004 Cameroon was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup. In November of that year, coach Schäfer resigned from his position because of disputes over premium payments and also because of unsuccessful sport. Artur Jorge was his successor .

Cameroon missed qualifying for the 2006 World Cup due to a missed penalty by the player Pierre Womé in the game against Egypt . Womé, whose house in Milan was devastated by fans, then resigned from the national team. Coach Artur Jorge was sacked, and his successor was Arie Haan from the Netherlands .

At the African Cup in 2006 failed Cameroon again in the quarterfinals. In a dramatic match against Ivory Coast, Samuel Eto'o, of all people, missed a crucial penalty and Cameroon lost 11-12 on penalties. Eto'o had scored five more goals in the preliminary round. Although he only played four games, he also ended up becoming the tournament's sole top scorer.

At the Africa Cup of 2008 , Cameroon improved after a weak first group game in the preliminary round against Egypt (2: 4 after 0: 3 half-time deficit) in the course of the tournament and reached the final. There the team trained by the German Otto Pfister met Egypt again and lost 1-0. Like two years earlier, Samuel Eto'o was the sole top scorer with five goals scored exclusively in the preliminary round. (see also: Football Africa Championship 2008 )

At the Africa Cup of 2010 , Cameroon surprisingly lost the first game 1-0 to Gabon and in the second game against Zambia, the team fell behind early. After an hour Geremi Njitap equalized and four minutes later Samuel Eto'o took the 2-1 lead. Mohamadou Idrissou was able to secure victory in the 86th minute after equalizing with a penalty kick . In the last group game, the Cameroonians were able to equalize the leadership of the Tunisians twice and thus reached the quarter-finals against Egypt in second place. In that game Eto'o increased his African Championships scoring record to 18 goals. An own goal from Ahmed Hassan , a corner from Achille Emana extended into his own goal, they could take the lead, but still had in the first half, to accept the compensation by Hassan. No goals were scored in the second half, so the game had to be decided in extra time. After a back pass from Geremi Njitap, Egyptian Mohamed Nagy was able to score the decisive goal in the 92nd minute, a Wembley goal by Ahmed Hassan to 1: 3 sealed the elimination of Cameroon, which came to more than 20 corners but no further goal. The elimination in the quarter-finals also meant that Cameroon lost their place in the FIFA rankings in February 2010 to Egypt as the best African team and fell behind Nigeria to third in the continental standings. In April 2010, Cameroon was able to overtake Nigeria again.

2010s

At the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Cameroon lost all three group games against Japan , Denmark and the Netherlands and was eliminated in the preliminary round. Also at the 2014 World Cup , after losing three games against Mexico (0: 1), Croatia (0: 4) and the hosts Brazil (1: 4), they were eliminated in the preliminary round.

shirt

The national team of Cameroon appeared for the Africa Cup in 2004 in a newly designed, body-hugging one-piece suit. As a design element, traces of lion's claws were sewn over the abdominal muscles. However, Fifa saw this as a violation of its own rules, according to which sportswear must consist of a jersey and pants. A fine of CHF 200,000 was imposed on Cameroon and six points were deducted from him for the upcoming qualification for the 2006 World Cup. However, the point deduction was later withdrawn by Fifa. For the Africa Cup of 2002 , in which Cameroon won the title, the team competed with innovative, sleeveless jerseys, which should then also be worn for the 2002 World Cup . However, FIFA objected and Cameroon was ultimately forced to give up the sleeveless jerseys. As a compromise, black sleeves made of thin mesh were sewn in, which were barely visible, but officially complied with FIFA regulations.

Tournaments

Participation in the Olympic Games

1900 to 1964	not participated
1968 in Mexico City	not qualified
1972 in Munich	not qualified
1976 in Montreal	not participated
1980 in Moscow	not participated
1984 in Los Angeles	Preliminary round
1988 in Seoul	not qualified

After 1988 the senior national team stopped taking part in the Olympic Games and the qualifying games. The Olympic team qualified for the Games in Sydney and became the second African team to become Olympic champions. The Olympic final was decided on penalties for the first time. In 2008 , the Olympic team was eliminated in the quarter-finals against the later third Brazil.

Football World Cup

→ Main article : Cameroon national football team / World Cups

Of the African teams, Cameroon qualified most often (7 times) for the World Cup finals. When they first participated in 1982, the team was eliminated unbeaten after the preliminary round. In the second participation in 1990, a victory against world champions Argentina succeeded in the opening game and the first African team to reach the quarter-finals. After that, the preliminary round was no longer survived.

year	Host country	Participation until ...	Last opponent	Result	Trainer	Comments and special features
1930	Uruguay	not participated				Not an independent state
1934	Italy	not participated				Not an independent state
1938	France	not participated				Not an independent state
1950	Brazil	not participated				Not an independent state
1954	Switzerland	not participated				Not an independent state
1958	Sweden	not participated				Not an independent state
1962	Chile	not participated				Not a FIFA member
1966	England	withdrawn				All 15 African teams withdrew from the qualification as FIFA only allowed the teams from Africa, Asia and Oceania one place in the final round.
1970	Mexico	not qualified				In the qualification in the first round, Nigeria failed, but they could not qualify either.
1974	Germany	not qualified				In the qualification in the second round of Zaire failed.
1978	Argentina	not qualified				The Republic of the Congo failed to qualify in the first round , but they also failed to qualify.
1982	Spain	Preliminary round	Peru , Poland , Italy	17th	Jean Vincent	After 3 draws due to the fewer goals scored, eliminated as third in the group.
1986	Mexico	not qualified				In the qualification in the quarterfinals of Zambia failed, but that could not qualify well.
1990	Italy	Quarter finals	England	7th	Valery Kuzmich Nepomnyashchi	Victory in the opening game against the reigning world champion Argentina , Cameroon is the first African team to reach the quarter-finals of a World Cup, but loses there after 2-1 lead with 2: 3 nV against England.
1994	United States	Preliminary round	Sweden , Brazil , Russia	22nd	Henri Michel	After a draw against the eventual third Sweden, as well as defeats against the eventual world champions Brazil and Russia, eliminated as bottom group.
1998	France	Preliminary round	Austria , Italy , Chile	25th	Claude Le Roy	After 2 draws against Austria and Chile and one defeat against Italy, eliminated as bottom of the group.
2002	South Korea / Japan	Preliminary round	Ireland , Saudi Arabia , Germany	20th	Winfried Schaefer	After a draw against Ireland, victory against Saudi Arabia and defeat against eventual runner-up Germany, they were eliminated as third in the group.
2006	Germany	not qualified				In the qualification in the second round at the Ivory Coast failed.
2010	South Africa	Preliminary round	Japan , Denmark , Netherlands	31.	Paul Le Guen	Eliminated without points as bottom of the group.
2014	Brazil	Preliminary round	Mexico , Croatia , Brazil	32.	Volker Finke	Eliminated without points as bottom of the group.
2018	Russia	not qualified				In the second round of the CAF qualification , after four out of six games, Cameroon has no chance to qualify for the World Cup finals.
2022	Qatar

African Cup of Nations

competition	cut off
1957 in Sudan	not participated
1959 in Egypt	not participated
1962 in Ethiopia	not participated
1963 in Ghana	not participated
1965 in Tunisia	not participated
1968 in Ethiopia	not qualified
1970 in Sudan	Preliminary round
1972 in Cameroon	3rd place
1974 in Egypt	not qualified
1976 in Ethiopia	not qualified
1978 in Ghana	not qualified
1980 in Nigeria	not qualified
1982 in Libya	Preliminary round
1984 in Ivory Coast	winner
1986 in Egypt	2nd place
1988 in Morocco	winner
1990 in Algeria	Preliminary round
1992 in Senegal	4th Place
1994 in Tunisia	not qualified
1996 in South Africa	Preliminary round
1998 in Burkina Faso	Quarter finals
2000 in Ghana / Nigeria	winner
2002 in Mali	winner
2004 in Tunisia	Quarter finals
2006 in Egypt	Quarter finals
2008 in Ghana	2nd place
2010 in Angola	Quarter finals
2012 in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon	not qualified
2013 in South Africa	not qualified
2015 in Equatorial Guinea	Preliminary round
2017 in Gabon	winner
2019 in Egypt	Round of 16
2021 in Ivory Coast
2023 in Guinea

African Nations Championship

• 2009 : not qualified
• 2011 : quarter-finals
• 2014 : not qualified
• 2016 : quarter-finals

Record player

Record player
Games	player	position	Period	Gates
137	Rigobert Song	Defense	1993-2010	5
118	Samuel Eto'o	attack	1997-2014	56
118	Geremi Njitap	Defense / midfield	1996-2010	13
102	Emmanuel Kundé	Defense	1982-1990	17th
80	Jacques Songo'o	goal	1983-1976	0
77	Roger Milla	attack	1973-1994	43
74	Nicolas N'Koulou	Defense	since 2008	2
73	François Omam-Biyik	attack	1985-1998	26th
72	Carlos Kameni	goal	since 2001	0
69	Pierre Womé	Defense	1995-2012	1
68	Jean Makoun	midfield	2003-2014	5
68	Stéphane Mbia	Defense / midfield	since 2006	5
68	Émile Mbouh	midfield	1985-1994	3
67	Vincent Aboubakar	attack	since 2010	20th
67	Salomon Olembé	midfield	1997-2007	6th
66	Raymond Kalla	Defense	1994-2006	2
66	Louis-Paul M'Fédé	midfield	1984-1994	8th
63	Thomas N'Kono	goal	1975-1990	0
63	Stephen Tataw Eta	Defense	1986-1994	3

Record shooters
Gates	player	Period	Games
56	Samuel Eto'o	1997-2014	118
43	Roger Milla	1973-1994	77
33	Patrick M'Boma	1995-2004	57
26th	François Omam-Biyik	1985-1998	73
20th	Vincent Aboubakar	since 2010	67
19th	Pierre Webó	since 2003	59
17th	Emmanuel Kundé	1982-1990	102
16	Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting	since 2010	55
15th	André Kana-Biyik	1985-1994	59
13	Geremi Njitap	1996-2010	118
12	Alphonse Tchami	1992-1998	41

Source: Cameroon - Record International Players (as of November 17, 2019)

Known players

• Roger Milla (1978–1994), played at three World Cups for Cameroon: 1982, 1990 and 1994. He scored a goal at the 1994 World Cup at the age of 42 years, one month and eight days, making him the oldest scorer to score a World Cup any times.
• Thomas N'Kono (1975–1994) is a goalkeeping legend of the 1980s. He played for the national team at the 1982 World Cup , conceding only one goal in three games, and for seven years for Espanyol Barcelona . In 1988 he was in the final of the UEFA Cup . Today he is the goalkeeping coach at Espanyol, where the current national goalkeeper Idriss Carlos Kameni also played.

Well-known trainers

Period	Trainer
1965-1970	Dominique Colonna
1970	Raymond Fobete and Dominique Colonna
1970-1973	Peter Schnittger
1973-1975	Vladimir Beara
1976-1979	Ivan Ridanović
1980-1982	Branko Žutić
1982	Jean Vincent
1982-1984	Radivoje Ognjanović
1985-1988	Claude Le Roy
1988-1990	Valeri Nepomniachi
1991-1992	Philippe Redon
1993-1994	Jean Manga-Onguéné
1994	Léonard Nseké
1994	Henri Michel
1994-1996	Jules Nyongha
1996-1997	Henri Depireux
1997-1998	Jean Manga-Onguéné
1998	Claude Le Roy
1999-2001	Pierre Lechantre
2001	Jean-Paul Akono
2001-2004	Winfried Schaefer
2004-2006	Artur Jorge
2006-2007	Arie Haan
2007-2009	Otto Pfister
2009	Thomas N'Kono
2009-2010	Paul Le Guen
2010-2011	Javier Clemente
2011–2012	Denis Lavagne
2012-2013	Jean-Paul Akono
2013-2015	Volker Finke
2015-2016	Alexandre Belinga (interim)
2016-2017	Hugo Broos
2018	Rigobert Song
2018	Alexandre Belinga (interim)
2018-2019	Clarence Seedorf
2019–	António Conceiçao

See also

• List of international matches for the Cameroonian national football team
• Cameroon national football team (U-17 juniors)
• Cameroon national football team (U-20 men)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The FIFA / Coca-Cola World Ranking. In: fifa.com. July 16, 2020, accessed July 21, 2020 . 
2. ↑ The placements from 5th place onwards were determined by FIFA without any placement games. See: All-time FIFA World Cup Ranking 1930–2010 (PDF; 200 kB)
3. ↑ ^{a b} Incl. two games at the 1984 Olympic Games and four qualifying games for the 1988 Olympic Games, which are not counted by FIFA.
4. ↑ ^{a b} Incl. a goal in the qualifying games for the 1988 Olympic Games, which are not counted by FIFA.
5. ↑ Incl. eight qualifying games for the Olympic Games in 1984 and 1988, which FIFA does not count.
6. ↑ ^{a b} Incl. three games at the 1984 Olympic Games and two qualifying games for the 1988 Olympic Games, which are not counted by FIFA.
7. ↑ ^{a b} Incl. one goal each at the 1984 Olympic Games and one goal each in the qualifying games for the 1988 Olympic Games, which FIFA does not count.
8. ↑ ^{a b} Incl. three qualifying games for the 1988 Olympic Games, not counted by FIFA.
9. ↑ ^{a b} Incl. a goal in the qualifying games for the 1988 Olympic Games, which are not counted by FIFA.
10. ↑ ^{a b} Incl. four qualifying games for the 1988 Olympic Games, not counted by FIFA.
11. ↑ Incl. three games at the 1984 Olympic Games and four qualifying games for the 1988 Olympic Games, which are not counted by FIFA.
12. ↑ Incl. one goal at the 1984 Olympic Games, which FIFA does not count.
13. ↑ Incl. three qualifying games for the 1988 Olympic Games, not counted by FIFA.
14. ↑ Incl. two goals in the qualifying games for the 1988 Olympic Games not counted by FIFA.
15. ^ Roberto Mamrud: Cameroon - Record International Players ( English ) rsssf.com. January 16, 2020. Accessed April 29, 2020.

Web links

Commons : Cameroonian national soccer team  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• A fan club (French, English and German)
• Association website