Doha, November 06 (QNA) – Cameroon returns to FIFA World Cup to continue setting a record in the number of participations for an African country, when it competes in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, amid hopes of repeating the achievement of qualifying for the quarter-finals after its absence from the last edition held in Russia four years ago.
Cameroon will participate in the finals for the eighth time, but its squad in the World Cup in Qatar has a little of the charisma of its previous teams, which gained attention around the world for its stubborn style of play and the strength of its players.
Cameroon will compete in Group G, which includes Brazil, Serbia and Switzerland, and will start its campaign against Switzerland on Nov. 24 at Al Janoub Stadium.
In its second match, Cameroon will face Serbia on Nov. 28 at Al Janoub Stadium, before concluding its campaign in the group stage with the most difficult confrontation with Brazil on Dec. 2 at Lusail Stadium.
With a group that includes three strong teams, the Cameroonian team awaits a difficult task in the World Cup in Qatar, despite the fact that many of its players have experience at the highest level in the major European leagues.
The Cameroonian Football Federation chose Banyan Tree Hotel in La Cigale Mushaireb, located in the heart of the capital, Doha, as the venue for the team’s residence during the Qatar World Cup, provided that it trains at Al Sailiya Club Stadium.
Cameroon qualified for the World Cup in Qatar after a long and a difficult journey, as it began its matches in the fourth group of the African qualifiers along with the teams of Ivory Coast, Mozambique and Malawi, and succeeded in leading its group with 15 points, to qualify for the decisive final round.
In the final round of the qualifiers, the Cameroon team was drawn against the Algerian team, which succeeded in winning the first leg in Cameroon 1-0, and in the second match in Algeria, the match time ended with Cameroon winning 1-0, so that the two teams resorted to extra time.
In the extra time, Algeria scored the equalizer in the 118th minute, and everyone believed that Algeria was on its way to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar 2022, but Lyon French striker Karl Toko Ekambi scored a fatal goal in the minute (120 + 4). He granted Cameroon a transit visa for the World Cup.
The Cameroonian national team is playing the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 finals for the eighth time in its history after 1982, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2010 and 2014, to enhance its record as the most African team to reach the World Cup finals.
Cameroon achieved its best result in the World Cup finals during the World Cup in Italy in 1990, led by its star Roger Milla, when he was the first African team to reach the quarter-finals after achieving a series of victories, starting with a victory over Argentina, “the title winner “, with one goal in the opening match. Then Cameroon beat Romania (2-1), to qualify for the second round and overcame the obstacle of Colombia (2-1), before losing in extra time against England (2-3) in the quarter-finals, while Cameroon was eliminated from the first round in the other six qualifications.
At the continental level, the Cameroonian national team is ranked second in the list of the most winning teams in the African Cup of Nations with five titles, in 1984, 1988, 2000, 2002 and 2017, and was runner-up twice in 1986 and 2008.
Cameroon also won the gold medal for the soccer competition at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.
Throughout its long history, the Cameroon national team has distinguished players who starred in European stadiums, most notably Samuel Eto’o, the historical scorer for his country with 56 goals, and Roger Milla the old fox, Cameroon’s top scorer in the history of the world championships with 5 goals, and who has the number of the oldest player (42 years) who scored a goal in the history of the World Cup.
Rigobert Song stands out as the most participating player in international matches with 137 matches, Francois Omam-Biyik as the most representative player for the national team in the World Cup finals with 11 matches, and Gregoire M’Bida, who scored the first goal for Cameroon in the finals, without forgetting Kanna Beck, Emmanuel Kunde, and goalkeeper Joseph Antoine Bell, and Patrick Mboma. (QNA)