African championship: Rwanda beats Cameroon in Lions first pre-tourney friendly.

The East African nation overpowered the 1974 vice African champions 27-26 goals in what was the Lions’ first of four friendly matches programmed in the buildup to the forthcoming continental showpiece which assembles 16 countries from January 21 to January 31.

A section of Cameroonian handball experts blamed the Rwanda defeat to the Lions lack of efficiency in front of the goal post as notably highlighted by the number of goal-scoring opportunities that the team wasted during the fixture.

Handball connoisseurs also questioned the team’s defensive solidity despite applauding the overall encouraging commitment that the players demonstrated in the course of the match. 

They notably reiterated the need for the selection to boost its physical engagement and the mental ability to remain fully concentrated during the entirety of matches to avoid being taken unawares in the final minutes of games.

Several other friendlies pending

Per the Cameroon Handball Federation, FECAHAND, Cameroon is scheduled to further evaluate its strength with matches against the likes of Gabon, Congo Brazzaville and Angola.

The team was scheduled to lock horns with neighboring Gabon in Kigali yesterday evening in the first of the remaining matches.

The handball federation said the test matches formed part of a pre-tournament friendly tournament that was specifically organized to enable the Handball Lions and the other participants of the forthcoming African championship to properly prepare for the event.

The mini-tournament, per FECAHAND, was programmed to run in the Rwandan capital from January 8 featuring a total of at least five teams. 

For Cameroon, the tournament was scheduled to serve as the main on-field activity of the Handball Lions who arrived Rwanda last week to launch a two-week pre-tournament acclimatization window that was designed to run from January 8 to January 20.

The 2026 African handball championship will bring together 16 countries from across the continent. 

Cameroon is paired in Group C of the showpiece where the participating nations have been pooled in four groups of four teams each with the top two teams to qualify for the quarterfinals at the end of the opening round.

The Handball Lions will challenge serial winners Tunisia who have emerged as the competition’s winner a record 10 times, and the pair of Guinea Conakry and Kenya. 

The team begins its race with a cracker against Tunisia on Wednesday January 21.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3673 of Wednesday January 14, 2026