The Indomitable Lions of Cameroon and the Desert foxes of Algeria will clash for the first time since 2017, as they battle for one of the five tickets to represent Africa at the 2022 FIFA World cup in Qatar.
1630 days separate the last meeting between the indomitable lions of Cameroon and Algeria in a world cup qualifier, as both sides meet again on Friday for a similar contest. Cameroon will be in the quest for their eighth appearance at the world cup, while Algeria who have already featured at the stage four times, are on a mission to rewriting the wrongs of their early exit from the TotalEnergies AFCON 2021.
Cameroon made it to the last round of qualifiers after finishing top of Group D ahead of Cote d’Ivoire, Mozambique and Malawi. Algeria on their part claimed the top spot in Group A.
The 2017 and 2019 African Champions both missed out of the last edition of world cup in Russia, and will be looking to bounce back at the global event. Cameroon’s 1990 World cup expedition still stands out as the best the country has ever had, when they became the first African country to reach the quarter final. For Algeria, their round of 16 finish in Brazil 2014, remains the furthest they have gone in their four participations.
Head to Head Records
The last time Cameroon and Algeria met in a competitive game, was on October 07, 2017 at the Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium in Yaoundé, in the build up to the 2018 world cup. Clinton NJie and Frantz Pangop were on target to help Cameroon secure a two_nil win, though both sides eventually did not make it to Russia.
Friday’s game will be the eighth official game pitting both Nations, with Cameroon winning four of their seven previous meetings, and the other three games ending in draws.
- AFCON 1984 : Algeria 0-0 Cameroon
- AFCON 1986 : Algeria 2-3 Cameroon
- AFCON 1998 : Algeria 1-2 Cameroon
- AFCON 2000 : Algeria 1-2 Cameroon
- AFCON 2004 : Algeria 1-1 Cameroon
- WCQ 2018 : Algeria 1-1 Cameroon
- WCQ 2018 : Cameroon 2-0 Algeria
Players to Watch
The Cameroon versus Algeria fixture will bring together some of the finest football talents the continent can boast of. TotalEnergies AFCON 2021 top scorer Vincent Aboubakar, will lead the front line for the indomitable lions, and will be hoping to continue with his fine form from club.
Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui and Jean Charles Castelleto formed a formidable center back pairing in the lion’s last outings, and much will be expected from them. It will also to exciting to see how Fai Collins and Nouhou Tolo reacts to the high expectations of the fans, following their scintillating performance in the just ended AFCON.
For team Algeria, Manchester City’s forward Riyad Mahrez, Galatasaray’s Sofiane Feghouli and Sporting Club’s Islam Slimani, will be expected to play key roles for Djamel Belmadi’s side.
Injury Updates
The Indomitable Lions of Cameroon will be without two of their key players. 26\year\old Napoli midfielder André-Frank Zambo Anguissa, picked up an injury at club level over the weekend and will miss the double confrontation.
Young Boys Bern’s Moumi Nicolas Brice Ngamaleu has also been ruled out due to injury.
What they said
Rigobert Song Bahanag will be in his first match as head coach of the indomitable lions, since he was appointed to replace Antonio Conceição. The former Liverpool defender featured in four world cups during his playing days, and is now targeting a fifth participation, this time as coach.
“I will make my contribution to galvanize the players to question themselves in order to produce the expected results,” Rigobert Song said during his pre-match press conference.
Djamel Belmadi has been head coach of Algeria since 2018 and is now targeting his first world cup qualification.
“Thank You for giving me the opportunity to greet Rigobert Song and to congratulate him on his appointment. I wish him a good career, but it will start after March 29th. That he has ambitions and above all wants to motivate his players is normal, we know the captain he was. I don’t want to analyze what he said, the match itself should give you confidence. We are in 2022 and the page has to turn. Records and statistics are made to fall one day, but we also want to go to the World Cup,” Belmadi said during his presser.
The Cameroon versus Algeria clash this Friday will be played at the 50,000 capacity Japoma stadium in Douala. Kick off at 5pm GMT.
The reverse fixture will be played four days after the first and the winner will represent Africa at the world cup.
Source: CAF