World Cup History
Best Result:
1990, Quarterfinals
The Indomitable Lions have been one of the most successful sides in Africa over the past 20 years qualifying for five World Cups since 1982 and also winning four African Nations Cups in that time. In 2003, they climbed as high as No.12 in the world on the back of a golden generation of players which had already carried them to Olympic success in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, considered by most the greatest sporting moment in the history of the West African country.
The only challenge to that was the performance of the national team in the 1990 World Cup, where, propelled by the brilliance of the 38-year-old Roger Milla, Cameroon made the quarter-finals where they were unlucky to lose out to England in extra time.
The tournament started out in spectacular fashion for Cameroon, who defeated world champions Argentina 1-0 despite going down to 10 men early in the second half. A win over Romania, where Milla scored a double, and a loss to USSR followed, as the Africans topped the group. The second-round clash against Colombia finished 0-0 after 90 minutes before Milla contributed two goals in extra time to get his nation through. They then led 2-1 late in the match against England and it appeared that they were about to achieve something that no African nation has done before or since, make the last four. However, Gary Lineker scored in the 83rd minute and then the winner in extra time to break Cameroon's heart.
Milla would return in 1994, but Cameroon would bow out in the Group stages, as they did in the following two tournaments, before failing to qualify in 2006, one of the greatest shocks in African football history.
Road to World Cup
Qualified as top in CAF - Group A
Cameroon easily qualified from their first group, progressing undefeated from Group One which contained minnows Cape Verde, Mauritius and Tanzania.
Nothing is ever straight-forward when it comes to qualification from Africa, where teams must top their group to get through, but there appeared to be few concerns for Cameroon when they drew Gabon, Togo and Morocco in Group A of the final qualifying stage.
Togo had made the previous World Cup, while Morocco, then ranked 43rd in the world, had previously made four World Cups. But it was neighbours Gabon who were to prove the great challengers in the group and Cameroon's progression was not sealed until the last day.
Things began badly for the Indomitable Lions with an away loss in Lome to Togo and when Morocco held them to a 0-0 draw in Yaounde, alarm bells were ringing. Coach Otto Pfister was sacked and was replaced by Paul Le Guan and that led to a resurgence in the team's fortunes. Wins over Gabon, home and away, got the momentum moving with the Barcelona superstar Samuel Eto'o scoring in each of the games.
A 3-0 home win over Togo gave Cameroon an excellent chance of qualifying, but they still needed to win their final game of the qualification against Morocco in Fez to get through. Gabon missed their chance when they lost 1-0 to Togo in Lome and goals to Mallorc'a Pieree Webo and Eto'o secured Cameroon's passage to South Africa.
Star Men
Samuel Eto'o - Eto'o has been a superstar in Europe for nearly a decade, impressing in spells with Mallorca, Barcelona and now Inter. He boasts an extraordinary strike rate at club level, including 108 goals in 145 matches in his five years at Barca. His transfer to Inter Milan in 2009 was protracted and did nothing for the reputation of player who came out looking like a mercenary after repeated demands over his transfer fee and wages.
His international career has been just as spectacular after making his debut for the Indomitable Lions as a 14-year-old in 1996. He was a key part of the squad which won the 2000 Olympic gold medal and was also involved in the 1998 and 2002 African nations Cup successes. He is the greatest scorer in Nations Cup history with 16 goals and will be looking to add to that in Angola in early 2010. But having missed out on his chance in the 2006 World Cup because Cameroon did not qualify when he was arguably in his prime, he will be determined to put on a show on African soil in 2010.
Rigobert Song -Song is a journeyman defender who has played club football in France, England, Italy Germany and now Turkey, with Trabzonspor. He has been a constant for Cameroon over the past decade and will be the rock in the middle of defence for the Indomitable Lions in South Africa.
He has played 131 games at national level since debuting in 1993 and will be one of the most experienced players of any side in the 2010 World Cup.
Stranger than Fiction
Roger Milla remains the oldest man to have scored in a World Cup, when at 42, he scored against Russia in 1994. Cameroon lost the match 6-1 with Russia's Oleg Salenko setting a record of his own with five goals.
