Football in Cameroon

The most popular sport in Cameroon is football.^[1] The national team is traditionally one of the strongest teams on the African continent.^[2] They have participated in the World Cup 8 times, and in 1990 they reached the quarter-finals.^[3][4] It took extra time before England won the game 3–2.^[5][6] They have also won the African Cup of Nations 5 times as well as winning Olympic gold in Sydney in 2000.^[7] Among the most famous players are Roger Milla, Thomas N'Kono and Samuel Eto'o.^[8][9]

Football in Cameroon
Country	Cameroon
Governing body	Cameroonian Football Federation
National team(s)	national football team
National competitions
Africa Cup of Nations FIFA World Cup
Club competitions
League: Elite One Elite Two Cups: Cameroonian Cup Super Coupe Roger Milla
International competitions
CAF Champions League CAF Confederation Cup CAF Super Cup FIFA Club World Cup

The Olembe Stadium is the largest sports venue by capacity in Cameroon.

Competitions

National competitions

Cameroonian Football Federation, nicknamed Fécafoot, has been organizing the Cameroon Football Championship since 1961. The most titled Club is the Cotonsport Garoua, 12 times champion. The championship has been renamed "MTN Elite One" Since the 2007 season and sponsorship by the South African telephone operator MTN.

Main article: Cameroonian football league system

Level	League(s)/Division(s)
1	Elite One 18 clubs
2	Elite Two 15 clubs

Cup

The Cameroonian Cup was created in 1960. The Canon Yaoundé won it eleven times.

National team

Main article: Cameroon national football team

Cameroon national football team, dubbed "the Indomitable Lions", is one of the most successful in Africa, winning five times the African Cup of Nations (1984, 1988, 2000, 2002, 2017). in 1990, Cameroon became the first African country to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup. In 2000, it won the Olympic Games.

International competitions

Cameroon organized the African Cup of Nations (CAN) in 1972, Yaoundé and Douala. The competition was won by the Congo. At that time, the Congo was a single country.

It also hosted the CEMAC Cup in 1988 and 2008.

Women's football

Cameroon women's national football team played its first game on 15 June 1991 in Nigeria (defeated 2–0) as Martin Spirit as Captain . Cameroon has been runners up in Africa Women Cup of Nations in 1991, 2004 and 2014. The national team competed for the first time at the 2012 Summer Olympics, and first qualified for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.^[10][11]

See also

• List of football stadiums in Cameroon

References

1. "BBC News – Magic fails to help Cameroon's footballers". Bbc.co.uk. 19 January 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
2. Glenn Moore (22 June 2014). "World Cup 2014: Where did it all go wrong for shambolic Cameroon?". The Independent. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
3. Burnton, Simon (12 February 2014). "World Cup: 25 stunning moments … No1: Cameroon stun Argentina in 1990". Retrieved 23 November 2016 – via The Guardian.
4. "BBC SPORT – WORLD CUP – History – Italy 1990". 17 April 2002. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
5. "BBC Sport – Football – World Cup 1990 – Cameroon shock Argentina". 25 May 2010. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
6. Borg, Chris (23 June 2015). "Roger Milla changed way world sees African football". Retrieved 23 November 2016.
7. "CNNSI.com – Olympic Sports – Soccer – Joyous Cameroon celebrates Olympic gold – Tuesday November 14, 2000 09:47 am". Sportsillustrated.cnn.com. Archived from the original on 28 April 2001. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
8. Press Association (20 December 2010). "Samuel Eto'o voted African Player of the Year for a record fourth time | Football". theguardian.com. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
9. Holmes, Mycroft. "Cameroon's 10 Greatest Players of All-Time". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
10. "England into World Cup quarter-finals". BBC Sport.
11. "England 3-0 Cameroon: England Women into World Cup quarters after ill-tempered win dominated by VAR".