Cameroon name final squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup
Head coach for the Cameroonian national team Rigobert Song has named his final 26-man squad for the World Cup in Qatar, with players based in Europe dominating the list.
The Indomitable Lions made it to the World Cup after seeing off Algeria in the African play offs to secure one of Africa’s five tickets for the global mundial.
Song left out long-serving centre-back Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui from the squad, and provided no explanation at a news conference on Wednesday.
Vincent Aboubakar, who competed as a teenager in the 2010 World Cup and again in Brazil in 2014, will captain the team like he did when the Indomitable Lions hosted the AFCON in January this year.
It will also be the third World Cup for defender Nicolas Nkoulou and Bayern Munich attacker Eric-Maxime Choupo Moting after making it to the 2010 and 2018 World Cups respectively.
Cameroon was the first African side to have reached the quarter-finals of World Cup before being defeated 3–2 by England. Roger Milla, at the age of 42, became the oldest player ever to appear in a World Cup finals at the same tournament where he also managed to score. The record for oldest player was broken in 2014 by Colombian goalkeeper Faryd Mondragón, but Milla is still the oldest goalscorer at
Cameroon will compete in their eighth World Cup, a record for an African country, and will face Switzerland, Serbia, and Brazil in Group G, beginning on November 24.
Full Squad
Goalkeepers: Devis Epassy (Abha Club), Simon Ngapandouetnbu (Olympique de Marseille), Andre Onana (Inter Milan)
Defenders: Jean-Charles Castelletto (Nantes), Enzo Ebosse (Udinese), Collins Fai (Al Tai), Olivier Mbaizo (Philadelphia Union), Nicolas Nkoulou (Aris Salonika), Tolo Nouhou (Seattle Sounders), Christopher Wooh (Stade Rennes)
Midfielders: Martin Hongla (Verona), Pierre Kunde (Olympiakos), Olivier Ntcham (Swansea City), Gael Ondoua (Hannover 96), Samuel Oum Gouet (Mechelen), Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (Napoli)
Forwards: Vincent Aboubakar (Al Nassr), Christian Bassogog (Shanghai Shenhua), Eric-Maxime Choupo Moting (Bayern Munich), Souaibou Marou (Coton Sport), Bryan Mbeumo (Brentford), Nicolas Moumi Ngamaleu (Young Boys Berne), Jerome Ngom (Colombe Dja), Georges-Kevin Nkoudou (Besiktas), Jean-Pierre Nsame (Young Boys Berne), Karl Toko Ekambi (Olympique Lyonnais)