Preview: Cameroon vs. Zimbabwe – prediction, team news, lineups

With a first place in Group J from 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying tournaments are still up for grabs, Cameroon And Zimbabwe will compete on Tuesday at the Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo.

The home side are unbeaten in each of their last seven meetings against the visitors, whose last win in this match came in the 1994 World Cup qualifying round.

Match example

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Cameroon had to make do with some of the spoils from their most recent performance against the Warriors of Namibia, which ended goalless at the Orlando Stadium on Wednesday evening.

Despite having the upper hand for large periods of the South Africa clash, Marc Brys saw his side manage to find the back of the net for only the second time since he took over the reins from Rigobert Song in April.

Nevertheless, it remains a more than positive start to life in charge of the Indomitable Lions for 62-year-old Brys, who has yet to taste defeat after four wins and three draws in his seven games so far.

With 11 points on the board from a possible 15, Cameroon currently lead the way in Group J of the qualifiers, two points ahead of Zimbabwe ahead of Tuesday’s meeting in Yaounde and a further four points ahead of Kenya in third place .

Tuesday’s hosts will now look to maintain their current seven-match unbeaten streak and avoid losing for the first time since 2017 in an AFCON qualifying campaign where they recorded four wins and two draws from six matches.

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Zimbabwe made a slow start to their qualifying journey with back-to-back stalemates against Kenya and Cameroon before getting back on track with six points from a possible six in both meetings against Namibia in October.

Michael Nees‘s men took on local rivals Kenya in their penultimate match on Friday afternoon, knowing all they had to do was avoid defeat to secure a place in next year’s continental showpiece in Morocco.

The Warriors went into the locker room with a narrow lead Tawanda Maswanhise‘s opener just past the half hour before Jonah Ayunga restored parity in the early exchanges of the second period.

Zimbabwe are one of 11 teams without defeat in the AFCON qualifiers after the first five rounds and could become one of only two current group winners to achieve the feat alongside Comoros.

However, Tuesday’s visitors will have everything to do in their final meeting given their dismal record away from home in competitive matches, barring major tournaments, which have produced just one win since March 2021.

Cameroon Africa Cup of Nations Qualification format:

Form Cameroon (all competitions):

Zimbabwe Africa Cup of Nations qualification form:

Zimbabwe form (all competitions):

Team news

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Nicolas Ngamaleu And Yvan Neyou were both ruled out due to injuries against Namibia last time out, meaning their involvement for Cameroon here is currently uncertain.

Should any of the above players be deemed unfit to participate, Georges-Kevin N’Koudou And Jean Charles Castelletto will be the favorites to get into the hosts’ lineup.

Skipper Vincent Aboubakar failed to close in Roger Milla second in his country’s all-time rankings, but now has 107 international caps to his name.

Following his goal against Kenya, Tawanda Maswanhise has now opened his account for Zimbabwe to make it four goals in his last four games for club and country.

Gerald Takwara could see his streak of playing all five AFCON qualifiers here come to an end after the 30-year-old had to leave with an injury last time out.

Cameroon possible starting line-up:
Onana; Tolo, Wooh, Ngadeu, Tchatchoua; Hongla; Bassogog, Magri, Neyou, N’Koudou; Aboubakar

Zimbabwe possible starting line-up:
Aruba; Zemura, Hadebe, Godknows, Garananga; Rinomhota, Nakamba; Maswanhise, Munetsi, Musona; Billiat

We say: Cameroon 2-1 Zimbabwe

Both teams have given a good account of themselves over the past few games and Tuesday’s meeting could really go either way.

That said, we’re backing the home side to emerge triumphant at the whistle.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match, click here.

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