Can Cameroon make their mark against the desert foxes?

The majority of the participants for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar have already been determined. The situation in Africa is still completely unclear, as only the five first legs in the decisive play-offs will be played on Friday. Exciting matches are to be expected and one or the other star will only be able to follow the upcoming finals in front of the TV set. On Friday, Cameroon and Algeria, among others, will face each other at 6 p.m.

The “Les Fennecs”, the desert foxes from Algeria, have no good memories of their last trip to Cameroon. It was only in January that the Africa Cup was staged there, and Algeria, the reigning Africa Cup winners, were surprisingly defeated in the preliminary round. A significant improvement in performance will be needed against the indomitable lions. Cameroon, as hosts, missed their self-proclaimed goal (winning the title), but still managed to finish third.

The extremely poor performances of the Algerian national team and the strong home advantage in Africa are certainly strong arguments for betting on a home win in the Cameroon vs. Algeria clash.

Cameroon – Statistics & current form

Portuguese Toni Conceicao has been sacked despite a very strong average of 2.09 points per game (23 matches). Head of state Paul Biya had personally taken the decision and called for Cameroon’s record international Rigobert Song (137 caps) as the new head coach. Song was promoted from the U23 to the senior national team and has a difficult task ahead of him on his debut as head coach of the indomitable lions.

WM chance was already hanging by a thread

Qualification for the 2018 finals in Russia was a complete disappointment, as Cameroon had to put the idea of an eighth World Cup appearance to bed early on. The current qualifying campaign was also a nail-biter, with Lyon attacker Karl Toko Ekambi the celebrated hero in the second qualifying round. In the last match (November 2021), a home win against Côte d’Ivoire was needed if Lyon were to finish top of Group D. Ekambi scored the only goal of the day and thus ensured a play-off chance.

In addition to Karl Toko Ekambi, hopes will rest on Vincent Aboubakar on Friday. The 30-year-old is also the captain of his country and despite his commitment in the desert of Saudi Arabia (Al-Nassr FC), he still presents himself in top form. With eight goals, Aboubakar was the top scorer at the Africa Cup in January. Given his scoring rate, a prediction of an Aboubakar goal in Cameroon’s match against Algeria is also realistic.

There were no big surprises in the first Song squad. Joel Matip is known to have withdrawn, otherwise all the familiar players are available. YBB attacker Nicolas Moumi Ngamaleu is unavailable to Rigobert Song due to injury.

Predicted line-up of Cameroon:
Onana – Nouhou, Castelletto, Ngadeu, Fai – Hongla, Oum Gouet, Anguissa – Toko Ekambi, Aboubakar, Ganago

Last matches played by Cameroon:

Africa Nations Cup Final
02/05 2022 – Burkina Faso (3)3 – 3(5)

Cameroon
02/03 2022 – Cameroon 1.0 – 0.3 Egypt

01/29 2022 – Gambia 0 – 2 Cameroon

01/24 2022 – Cameroon 2 – 1 Comoros

Africa Nations Cup Grp. A
01/17 2022 – Cape Verde 1 – 1 Cameroon

Algeria – Statistics & current form

As defending champions, expectations were naturally correspondingly high. Especially since the preliminary round group featured two supposedly easy opponents in Sierra Leone and Equatorial Guinea. But the desert foxes disgraced themselves to the bone and could only score one goal in the 3-1 defeat against Côte d’Ivoire. The Belmadi team had to pack their bags after the preliminary round. The 45-year-old Belmadi was given a reprieve due to his strong results so far (40 caps, average 2.28 points per game).

Routing Legionnaires’ Team

Reparation is on the cards, a failure to beat Cameroon would probably see Djamel Belmadi begin to lose his credit. The current number 43 in the FIFA world rankings will be without a number of very good-sounding names. Said Benrahma (twelve scorers for West Ham in the Premier League) and Andy Delort (eleven scorers for OGC Nice) are missing from the line-up.

Algeria will continue to rely on the experienced core of the team after the Africa Cup defeat. All in all, the Desert Foxes are a relatively experienced team, with hardly any of their key players under the age of 30. Gladbach defender Ramy Bensabaini seems almost a youngster at the age of 26.

Burkina Faso kept at bay

Algeria’s qualification for the decisive play-offs was also only fixed on the last matchday. In their home match against Burkina Faso, they needed at least a point to keep their direct rivals at bay. With a 2-2 draw, Algeria succeeded in this task, but was by no means convincing.

In general, the Desert Foxes have fallen a long way from their former performance level in recent months. It is therefore difficult to imagine Algeria achieving a positive result away from home. Accordingly, the current odds for Cameroon against Algeria are understandable, as they make the visitors appear to be relatively clear underdogs.

Predicted line-up of Algeria:
Oukidja – Bensebaini, Mandi, Touba, Atal – Bennacer, Bendekba – Mahrez, Bouadoui, Ghezzal – Slimani

Last matches played by Algeria:

Africa Nations Cup Grp. E
01/20 2022 – Ivory Coast 3 – 1 Algeria

01/16 2022 – Algeria 0 – 1 Equatorial Guinea

01/11 2022 – Algeria 0 – 0 Sierra Leone

Friendly match
01/05 2022 – Algeria 3 – 0 Ghana

FIFA Arab Cup Final Stage
12/18 2021 – Tunisia 0 – 2 Algeria

Cameroon – Algeria Direct Comparison / H2H Record

The first leg in the current playoffs will be the tenth clash between the two sides. The last matches were also played in the course of World Cup qualifying. For the 2018 finals in Russia, however, they met in the group stage, where Cameroon collected four points in the direct comparison, but ultimately missed out on the finals by a wide margin.

Cameroon – Algeria Tip

Cameroon for the eighth time? Or Algeria for the fifth time? In 2018, neither team featured in Russia, but four years on, that will change for one of the two nations. Given what we learned at the Africa Cup in January/February, predicting a home win seems the logical choice between Cameroon and Algeria.

Qualitatively, of course, Algeria has an absolutely outstanding player at its disposal in Riyad Mahrez. But the Algerian national team is by no means stronger across the board than Cameroon. The indomitable Lions also have the home advantage at their back. Therefore, betting on a home win in the first leg of the play-off between Cameroon and Algeria seems to be a good choice.

With so much at stake for both teams, a very destructive game is to be expected. Scoring chances will be scarce, so goals on both sides are not to be expected.