Cameroon beat Brazil but bow out of World Cup; Brazil, Switzerland make Last 16

News Express |2nd Dec 2022 | 578

Cameroon's match winner Vincent Aboubakar

A late goal by skipper Vincent Aboubakar ended Cameroon's 20-year wait for a win at the World Cup as the Indomitable Lions bowed out in style by beating a much-changed Brazil 1-0 at the Lusail Stadium on Friday.

With qualification already in the bag after wins over Serbia and Switzerland, Brazil still won Group G, ahead of Switzerland on goal difference, and will face Group H runners-up South Korea, who beat Portugal 2-1, in the next round.

Cameroon, whose last win at the World Cup was in 2002 against Saudi Arabia, were on the back foot for most of the match but sprung to life at the death. Aboubakar powered a header past Ederson then was sent off for collecting a second yellow for taking off his jersey in celebration.

The match played out in a relatively subdued atmosphere in the cavernous Lusail Stadium, the tournament's biggest venue, with Brazil's reserves eager to impress but Tite's side unable to assert their usual flair.

Gabriel Martinelli was Brazil's livliest player and nearly put the five-time champions ahead in the 14th minute when he was picked out by Fred's ball over the top, but the Arsenal forward's header drew a fine reaction save from Devis Epassy.

Cameroon offered nearly no attacking threat until the first half injury time, when Nicolas Moumi Ngamaleu's cross was met with a powerful downward header by Bryan Mbeumo that Ederson clawed away one-handed at full stretch.

Tite had seen enough and made a triple change soon after the interval, bringing on Marquinho for the injured Alex Telles, and replacing Rodrygo and Fred with Everton Ribeiro and Bruno Guimaraes.

The substitutes stirred Brazil into a sudden flurry of chances with Epassy forced into action three times in as many minutes.

First, Martinelli stung the Cameroon keeper's palms with a snap shot in the 56th minute.

Next, Eder Militao tried his luck from the ensuing corner coaxing a fumble out of the Cameroon keeper, who recoverd to scramble the ball out to safety, before the lively Antony got in on the act, forced Epassy into a diving save to keep out his curling effort.

Tite sent on Pedro in the 64th minute and Rafinha in the 79th as Brazil sought to save their perfect record in the group, but Cameroon clung on until Aboubakar arrived in the right place at the right time to seize his moment.

Meanwhile, Switzerland reached the World Cup knockout round for the third successive tournament after prevailing 3-2 over Serbia to finish runners-up in Group G and set up a last 16 showdown with Portugal.

In a contest that ebbed and flowed at breakneck speed in the first half at Stadium 974, Xherdan Shaqiri put Switzerland ahead but Serbia swiftly scored twice within 10 minutes through Aleksandar Mitrovic and Dusan Vlahovic to flip the game on its head.

Breel Embolo delivered another twist in an absorbing opening period by pulling Switzerland side level just before the break, while Remo Freuler scored three minutes after the restart to restore their one-goal advantage again.

Switzerland had fired warning shots with barely 30 seconds on the clock, as captain Granit Xhaka's strike was blocked by the Serbian defence before goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic denied both Embolo one-on-one and also Xhaka on the rebound.

Serbia enjoyed a spell of pressure after that early scare, with Nikola Milenkovic heading wide from Dusan Tadic's corner before Andrija Zivkovic took aim from outside the penalty area and rattled the left post with a powerful effort.

Ricardo Rodriguez's cross in the 20th minute was cleared and fell to Djibril Sow, who picked out Shaqiri on the right. The midfielder fired home a strike that took a slight deflection off Strahinja Pavlovic on its way into the net.

Fulham frontman Mitrovic headed in Tadic's cross to deservedly draw Serbia level six minutes later. Tadic was involved again and slipped the ball through to Vlahovic, who steered a low shot past goalkeeper Gregor Kobel to complete the Serbian turnaround.

But Embolo slotted home Silvan Widmer's low cross in the 44th minute and Freuler kept the momentum going by thumping in the fifth goal of the evening, as two wonderfully worked moves from the Swiss attack proved to be Serbia's undoing.

Midway through the second half, Mitrovic went down too easily after a challenge from Fabian Schaer but his appeals for a penalty were turned down, and the Serbian dugout spilled onto the pitch protesting the referee's decision.

Switzerland finished with six points, level with Group G winners Brazil but behind on goal difference. Serbia, who needed a win to give themselves a fighting chance of advancing, finished bottom of the group with only one point. They have never moved past the World Cup group stage since the breakup of Yugoslavia. (Based on reuters reports)