Cameroon breaks the jinx, secures draw with Serbia

It was Cameroon’s second game of the group stages and they had all to play for.

With 8 consecutive losses in the World Cup, the Indomitable Lions could not afford to make history by beating Mexico’s record.

Aboubakar came off the bench to score and assist for Cameroon who came from two goals behind to draw with Serbia in a World Cup classic.

It was Cameroon who opened the scoring after Mitrovic missed two opportunities, with Castelletto latching onto Tolo’s corner.

However, Serbia bounced back, heading into the break with the lead after two goals in first half stoppage time.

Pavlovic scored the equaliser, directing Tadic’s free-kick past Epassy before Milinkovic-Savic curled his effort into the bottom corner.

Struggling after going behind, Serbia looked to have claimed all three points when Mitrovic finished off a stunning move before Song made a change.

Replacing Hongla with Aboubakar, the extra striker made the difference. Getting a goal back with a delicate chip, with the 30-year-old given the goal after a VAR check, the substitute then set up the leveller two minutes later.

On the right, he cut the ball to Choupo-Moting, who couldn’t have had an easier finish.

This was Serbia’s first ever draw in a World Cup match (W2 L8), and the first time they have ever scored as many as three goals in a game in the competition.

This is the second time Serbia have failed to win a World Cup match despite having a two-goal lead (also 2-3 vs Côte d’Ivoire in 2006), becoming the fourth side to have done so in more than one match in the competition (also England, Sweden and USSR).

Cameroon became the third African team to avoid defeat in a World Cup match having been 2+ goals behind, after South Africa (2-2 vs Paraguay in 2002) and Côte d’Ivoire (3-2 vs Serbia in 2006).

MMI Full Time analysis of Cameroon Draw with Serbia