Indomitable Lions belatedly name squad

Cameroon have belatedly named their 28-man squad that is headed to Morocco for this week’s World Cup playoffs as they bid to keep alive their chances of going to next year’s finals in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

Cameroon finished as one of the four best runners-up across the nine African qualifying groups for the 2026 World Cup and have a chance to get to the finals via two separate playoffs.

They compete first in the African playoffs in Morocco this week, starting against the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday (live on SuperSport at 9pm), and if they win, they will meet the victor of the other semifinal between Gabon and Nigeria on Sunday.

The African winner advances to the intercontinental playoffs to be held in March, where the last two players for the 48-team World Cup will be decided.

The Indomitable Lions coach Marc Brys has made no surprises in his selection, bringing back the experienced midfielders Yvan Neyou and Jean Onana as well as midfielder Wilitty Younoussa and defenders Enzo Boyomo and Darlin Yongwa, but former Cape Town City midfielder Brice Ambina (now playing in Norway), Samuel Kotto, and Junior Tchamadeu drop out of the squad.

Cameroon 🇨🇲 squad!

No new faces. Some interesting recalls though: Boyomo (Osasuna 🇪🇸), Yongwa (Lorient 🇫🇷), Younoussa (Rodez 🇫🇷), Neyou (Getafe 🇪🇸), Jean Onana (Genoa 🇮🇹)

🇨🇩 up next in the #FIFAWorldCup African Play-off! pic.twitter.com/1YptC454pe — The International Window (@windowintlpod) November 9, 2025

The delay in the naming of the squad came after Brys refused to travel to Cameroon for a press conference to name the team as he had been instructed to by the Cameroon Football Federation.

He felt it was a waste of time and headed directly from his home in Belgium to Morocco.

Brys and Fecafoot president Samuel Eto’o have long been at loggerheads since the Belgian was appointed coach by the Cameroon government.

The squad choices also give some indication of the selection that Brys is planning for the Africa Cup of Nations finals in Morocco next month.

Cameroon compete in Group G with Gabon, Mozambique, and defending champions Ivory Coast.

SQUAD

Goalkeepers: Devis Epassy (Dinamo Bucharest, Romania), Simon Omossola (St Eloi Lupopo, DR Congo), André Onana (Trabzonspor, Turkey)

Defenders: Malcolm Bokele (Goztepe, Turkey), Enzo Boyomo (Osasuna, Spain), Jean-Charles Castelletto (Al Duhail, Qatar), Mahamadou Nagida (Stade Rennais, France), Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui (Beijing Guoan, China), Jackson Tchatchoua (Wolverhampton Wanderers, England), Nouhou Tolo (Seattle Sounders, USA), Darlin Yongwa (Lorient, France)

Midfielders: Arthur Avom (Lorient, France), Carlos Baleba (Brighton & Hove Albion, England), Martin Hongla (Granada, Spain), Daniel Namaso (AJ Auxerre, France), Yvan Neyou (Getafe, Cameroon), Jean Onana (Genoa, Italy), Wilitty Younoussa (Rodez, France), Franck Zambo Anguissa (Napoli, Italy)

Forwards: Vincent Aboubakar (Neftchi Baku, Azerbaijan), Christian Bassogog (Al Okhdood, Saudi Arabia), Eric Maxim Choupo Moting (New York RB, USA), Karl Etta Eyong (Levante, Spain), Frank Magri (Toulouse, France), Bryan Mbeumo (Manchester United, England), Georges-Kévin Nkoudou (Al Diriyah, Saudi Arabia), Patrick Soko (Almeria, Spain).