World Cup qualifiers: Lions one leg out!.

This was on match Day Eight of the 10-game qualifiers. The Blue Sharks of Cabo Verde scored the lone goal at the 54th minute, through forward, Dailon Richa Livramento, who capitalised on a lost ball in Cameroon’s half before outrunning Bryan Mbeumo, Christopher Wooh and Flavien Boyomo, to fire pass a completely helpless Goalkeeper Andre Onana.

Despite the loss, Cameroon, which is chasing an African record-extending nineth appearance at the final phase of the FIFA World Cup, maintains the second position in Group D. 

Yesterday’s results means Cabo Verde has all but qualified top of the pool. They are top of Group D with four points heading to the last two matches of the poll next month.

The Blue Sharks count 19 points, after registering six victories, a draw and a defeat in their eight matches. 

That is far superior to the 15 points that the Indomitable Lions have claimed after securing four victories, three draws and a defeat in the same number of matches.

Challenging Praia expedition for Lions

Cabo Verde’s win over the Indomitable Lions yesterday, came after what went down as an extremely difficult fixture for Cameroon.

The Blue Sharks mounted multiple stumbling blocks for the Lions, resultantly limiting the team’s goal-scoring opportunities in the first segment.

Lions’ lone clear scoring chance in the opening half came through in the last minute of the first segment, when midfielder, Frank Zambo Anguissa, powerfully headed in a long cross before it was smartly picked up by the host’s ace goalkeeper, Vozinha. 

The Indomitable Lions who until yesterday had remained unbeaten since Belgian, trainer Marc Brys, took over technical operations in April last year, registered multiple scoring opportunities in the second half but failed to find the back of the net on any of the actions.

Midfielder, Carlos Baleba, notably powered in from outside the penalty area at the 65th minute but the shot went wide. 

Forward, Danny Namaso, also side-netted in the second minute of additional time to conclude a fixture which pace was mainly dictated by the Cabo Verdean’s game plan that was principally drafted to enable the host to sit back and take Cameroon through a counter-attack.

Cabo Verde bullies Cameroon again

Cabo Verde’s move to frustrate Cameroon’s journey to the 2026 World Cup tournament, with yesterday’s emphatic win, sees the Island nation re-establishing itself as arguably the most challenging opponent the Indomitable Lions have faced in recent years.

The team has remained a bully for the Indomitable Lions since the two teams first met in September 2012. 

This is despite the 4-1 comfortable 4-1 win that the Cameroon registered over the Island nation in June last year in the course of the ongoing qualifiers.

The Cabo Verdean team, it should be recalled, had stopped Cameroon from qualifying for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations; after defeating the Lions 3-2 on aggregate in the final round of the qualifiers. They had beat the Lions 2 nil in the first leg in Praia and lost 2-1 in Yaounde during the return fixture.

The outfit also registered a 3-1 win over Cameroon across two legs in the qualifiers for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations; after posting a goalless draw with the Lions in the first leg before beating Captain Vincent Aboubakar and his teammates 3-1 in Praia in the reverse fixture. 

 This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3560 of Wednesday September 10, 2025