On Saturday, Cameroon stunned five – time champions Brazil in its final group stage match of the FIFA World Cup 2022. With a late winner at Lusail Stadium, Cameroon defeated Brazil for the very first time by an African team in a World Cup match.
In the 92nd minute, Vincent Aboubakar managed to score the game winning goal. A moment later, he was dismissed for receiving a second yellow card for taking off his shirt in celebration. However, the outcome had no impact on the result for either side.
Brazil, which had already been granted entry into the round of 16, ended first in Group G with six points, beating Switzerland, that had beaten Serbia 3-2 in the previous group match, on goal differential. With 4 points and third overall in the group at the finale of their campaign, Cameroon. Serbia ended last only with one point.
Brazil’s reserve team controlled the match despite trainer Tite seeking to make up to nine lineup changes. Despite possessing 65{fdf37779c9dd66b1fe62c0757eeffb2930acac147787e4ebd7723eb33ec3056b} of the possession and helping make 21 attempts on goal, seven of which were successful, they were unable to score.
Cameroon, whose previous World Cup victory came against Saudi Arabia in 2002, played terribly for the majority of the game but battled to win it late. Aboubakar overtook Ederson with a powerful header. Brazil’s reserves were anxious to make an impression, but Tite’s team was unable to display their typical flair as the game progressed in the enormous Lusail Stadium, the largest arena of the tournament.
The most immersive player for Brazil was Gabriel Martinelli, who came close to giving the five-time champions the lead in the 14th minute after being discovered by Fred’s ball over the top. However, Devis Epassy made a splendid save in response to the Arsenal forward’s header.
Up until the closing moments of the first half, when Bryan Mbeumo encountered Nicolas Moumi Ngamaleu’s cross with such a powerful downward header, Cameroon posed very little offensive threat. Ederson cleverly clawed the ball away with one hand while stretching.
Shortly after the break, Tite decided that was sufficient and performed a triple substitution, replacing Marquinho for the wounded Alex Telles and Everton Ribeiro and Bruno Guimaraes for Rodrygo and Fred.
The replacements sparked Brazil into a quick rush of possibilities with Epassy pushed into motion three times in as many minutes.
In the 56th minute, Martinelli hit a quick shot that stung the Cameroon goalkeeper in the hands.
The Cameroon goalkeeper then rebounded to push the ball out to safety after Eder Militao’s subsequent attempt, and the lively Antony joined the action, sending Epassy into a diving save to stop his curling attempt.
In an effort to keep Brazil’s perfect record in the group alive, Tite substituted Pedro in the 64th minute and Rafinha in the 79th. However, Cameroon hung on until Aboubakar was in the right spot at the right time to grab his opportunity.
Nonetheless, Brazil is still safely placed in one of the knockout slots and is looking confident enough to clinch their sixth World title. They will now compete against South Korea, who defeated Portugal 2-1 to finish second in Group H.
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