With just six weeks sitting between football fans and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Cameroon are preparing to play in a tough-looking Group G – but have the African nation ever got their hands on the World Cup trophy, in their history?
Cameroon take on one of the favourites to win the tournament in Brazil in Group G. They also face a potential dark horse in Switzerland, who boast the likes of Arsenal’s Granit Xhaka and Monaco’s Breel Embolo. They also face Serbia.
They do boast some seriously talented players. Andre Onana of Inter Milan between the sticks. Brentford’s Bryan Mbuemo and Lyon ace Karl Toko Ekambi in attack, veteran Nicolas Nkoulou in defence. They are lacking in midfield.
Do they have a chance of qualifying for the knockout stages from Group G? It is an incredibly difficult group. The favourites will be Brazil to win the group, while the Swiss are likely to get second. But Cameroon can turn up.
2022 Qatar World Cup: Have Cameroon ever won the World Cup?
The history, of Cameroon at the World Cup, is not encouraging, though. Officially, the first time Cameroon ever actually competed at the World Cup, under their own name, was Spain 1982. Between 1930 and 1958, they played for France.
At Chile in 1962, they did not enter the tournament. The same story in 1970, 1974 and 1978 – Mexico, Germany and then Argentina. They withdrew from England in 1966. But in 1982 they qualified, losing all three group games.
At Mexico in 1986, they failed to qualify, and it was the same story for Germany 2006 and Russia 2018. In five of their six other participations at the World Cup, they have not got out of the group stage. Their biggest success? 1990.
In Italy, 32 years ago, they got to the quarter-finals, before a Gary Lineker brace in extra-time saw England knock them out. So, history is not on their side and they certainly have not won a World Cup. Unlikely to change, this year.
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