Cameroon vs Russia : Cameroon and Russia are set to face each other in an international friendly match on October 12th at the Dinamo Lev Yashin Stadium in Moscow. This will be the fourth meeting between the two nations, who have a contrasting record in their previous encounters. Here are some of the head to head statistics between Cameroon and Russia:
Overall record:
Russia has a clear advantage over Cameroon in their overall record, having won two and drawn one of their three matches. Russia has scored 11 goals and conceded only one against Cameroon, giving them a goal difference of +10.
First meeting:
The first meeting between Cameroon and Russia took place in the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy, where Russia (then playing as the Soviet Union) emerged as 4-0 winners. Oleg Protasov scored a brace, while Oleksiy Mykhaylychenko and Igor Dobrovolski added one goal each for Russia. Cameroon failed to register a single shot on target in the match.
Second meeting:
The second meeting between Cameroon and Russia took place in the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States, where Russia (then playing as the Russian Federation) came out victorious again with a 6-1 win. Oleg Salenko scored a record-breaking five goals for Russia, while Dmitri Radchenko scored the other one. Roger Milla scored the consolation goal for Cameroon, becoming the oldest goalscorer in World Cup history at the age of 42.
Third meeting:
The third and last meeting between Cameroon and Russia took place in an international friendly in 2011, which ended in a goalless draw. Both teams had some chances to score, but neither could find the back of the net. The match was played at the Lokomotiv Stadium in Moscow.
Cameroon vs Russia Current rankings:
According to the latest FIFA Rankings, Russia is ranked 39th in the world, two places above Cameroon, who is ranked 41st. However, both teams have had different fortunes in their recent tournaments. Cameroon finished as runners-up in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, losing to Algeria in the final. Russia failed to qualify from their group in the 2023 UEFA European Championship, losing to Belgium and Denmark.
Key players:
Both teams have some key players who can make a difference in the match. For Cameroon, some of the players to watch out for are Vincent Aboubakar, who was the top scorer in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations with six goals, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, who is the vice captain and most capped player of the team with 66 appearances, and Andre Onana, who is one of the best goalkeepers in Africa the world.
For Russia, some of the players to watch out for are Artem Dzyuba, who is the all-time top scorer of the team with 29 goals, Aleksandr Golovin, who is the creative midfielder and playmaker of the team, and Igor Akinfeev, who is the most experienced player of the team with 113 caps.
The match between Cameroon and Russia will be an interesting one to watch, as both teams will try to prove themselves and prepare for their upcoming qualifiers for the 2024 FIFA World Cup. The match will kick off at 18:00 local time (16:00 GMT) on October 12th.