TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025, Group F

Winners of two of the last three editions, Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon will renew a 55-year Africa Cup of Nations rivalry when they meet in their second Group F fixture on 28 December in Marrakech. Kick-off is at 21h00 local time (20h00 GMT), reports CAFonline.

At the Africa Cup of Nations, Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire have met eight times previously, with Cameroon winning five matches. Two of the remaining three encounters ended level before Côte d’Ivoire prevailed on penalties.

Côte d’Ivoire won their most recent AFCON meeting in 2015, claiming a 1-0 group-stage victory in their final group match, with Max Gradel scoring the decisive goal in the 35th minute to eliminate Cameroon.

Five of their eight AFCON meetings have taken place at the group stage (1970, 1984, 2000, 2002 and 2015). Cameroon won the first four of those encounters, with Côte d’Ivoire claiming victory in the most recent meeting in 2015.

Cameroon defeated Côte d’Ivoire 3-0 and 1-0 respectively in the group stages on their way to lifting AFCON titles in 2000 and 2002. In fact, when winning three of their five AFCON titles (1984, 2000 and 2002), Cameroon recorded group-stage victories over Côte d’Ivoire.

Côte d’Ivoire won their second AFCON title in 2015 after defeating Cameroon in the group stage. They overcame Cameroon on penalties in the 1992 semi-finals when lifting their first AFCON crown.

Across eight AFCON meetings, Côte d’Ivoire have managed just one victory over Cameroon in open play. Their other two wins — in the 1992 semi-finals and the 2006 quarter-finals — came via penalty shoot-outs.

Their 2006 quarter-final clash ended 1-1 after 120 minutes, with Côte d’Ivoire winning 12-11 on penalties. Samuel Eto’o was the only player to miss among the 24 spot-kicks taken.

Current Côte d’Ivoire coach Emerse Faé featured in that 2006 quarter-final, converting the Elephants’ fourth penalty in the shoot-out.

Only one of the eight AFCON clashes between Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire ended goalless — their 1992 semi-final encounter, which Côte d’Ivoire won on penalties.

The eight previous AFCON meetings between the sides have produced a total of 15 goals, with Cameroon scoring 11 and Côte d’Ivoire four.

Cameroon have kept five clean sheets in their eight AFCON meetings against Côte d’Ivoire, conceding only in three matches: a 3-2 group-stage win in 1970, the 1-1 draw in the 2006 semi-final, and their 1-0 loss in 2015.

On the five previous occasions (1970, 1984, 2000, 2002 and 2015) when Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon were drawn in the same group, only one of the two progressed. Côte d’Ivoire advanced in 1970 and 2015, while Cameroon went through in 1984, 2000 and 2002.

Despite losing their opening match 3-2 to Cameroon in 1970, Côte d’Ivoire recovered to defeat Sudan and Ethiopia and progressed as Group A winners ahead of Sudan, eliminating Cameroon at the group stage.

Overall, Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon have met 21 times, with each side winning eight matches and five ending in a draw.

The teams also met during qualifying for the 2015 AFCON. Cameroon won 4-1 in Yaoundé, while the return fixture in Abidjan ended in a 0-0 draw. Both sides qualified for the finals.

Their most recent meetings came in 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying, with each team winning at home. Côte d’Ivoire claimed a 2-1 win on 6 September 2021 thanks to a Sébastien Haller brace, with Moumi Ngamaleu scoring for Cameroon.

The return match on 16 November 2021 saw Cameroon win 1-0 at home, Karl Toko Ekambi scoring in the 21st minute. Cameroon would go on to qualify for Qatar 2022 ahead of the Ivoirians.

This will be the ninth AFCON meeting between Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon, the joint second-most meetings between two nations at the finals, alongside Côte d’Ivoire vs Algeria. Only Côte d’Ivoire’s 10 meetings against Ghana and Egypt rank higher.

Côte d’Ivoire have lost more AFCON matches only against Egypt (six) than they have against Cameroon (five). They have also lost five times against Ghana.

Cameroon are facing a defending champion for the fourth time at AFCON. They lost their previous three such encounters: against Egypt in 2008 (4-2 group-stage loss) and 2010 (3-1 quarter-final defeat), and against Senegal (3-1 group-stage loss) at the last edition.

Their only victory against a defending champion came in 1988, when they defeated Egypt 1-0 in their opening match.

They have previously met twice with Cameroon entering as defending champions, in 1986 and 2002, and on both occasions Cameroon won 1-0.

HEAD-TO-HEAD
OVERALL
Côte d’Ivoire: P21 W8 D5 L8 GF23 GA25 GD-2
Cameroon: P21 W8 D5 L8 GF25 DA23 GD+2

AFCON ONLY
Côte d’Ivoire: P8 W1 D2 L5 GF4 GA11 GD-7
Cameroon: P8 W5 D2 L1 GF11 GA4 GD+7

PAST AFCON MEETINGS

1970, Group A – 6 February 1970
Cameroon 3 (Koum 57’, 66’, N’Doga 60’) Côte d’Ivoire 2 (Pkou 25’, 45’)

1984, Group B – 10 March 1984
Côte d’Ivoire 0 Cameroon 2 (Milla 42’, Djonkep 61’)

1986, Semi-finals – 21 March 1986
Cameroon 1 (Milla 46’) Côte d’Ivoire 0

1992, Semi-finals – 23 January 1992
Cameroon 0 Côte d’Ivoire 0
Côte d’Ivoire won 3-1 on penalties

2000, Group A – 28 January 2000
Cameroon 3 (Kalla 29’, Eto’o 45’, M’boma 90’) Côte d’Ivoire 0

2002, Group C – 25 January 2002
Cameroon 1 (M’boma 85’) Côte d’Ivoire 0

2006, Quarter-finals – 4 February 2006
Cameroon 1 (Meyong 95’) Côte d’Ivoire 1 (Koné 92’)
Côte d’Ivoire won 12-11 on penalties

2015, Group D – 28 January 2015
Cameroon 0 Côte d’Ivoire 1 (Gradel 35’)

Côte d’Ivoire – Key Statistics

• Began with a 1-0 win over Mozambique.
• Have won 16 of their 26 opening matches at AFCON and are unbeaten in their last 14 opening games (W9 D5).
• Won their opening game for a fourth finals in a row.
• Have not conceded in their opening game in their last five AFCON appearances (2017, 2019, 2021, 2023 and 2025).
• Last won their first two AFCON matches in 2013, beating Togo 2-1 and Tunisia 3-0.
• In the last three AFCON tournaments, when winning their opening match, they failed to win their second:
  • 2019: beat South Africa 1-0, lost to Morocco 1-0
  • 2021: beat Equatorial Guinea, drew 2-2 with Sierra Leone
  • 2023: beat Guinea-Bissau, lost to Nigeria
• Have not won their second group game in their last five tournaments (D3 L2).
• Last won their second group game in 2013.
• Have conceded in their second group game in each of their last five appearances; last kept a clean sheet in a second group game in 2013 (3-0 vs Tunisia).
• At Egypt 2019, their last AFCON in North Africa, they won their opening match but lost their second. At Egypt 2006, they won both opening games.
• Have won their last three AFCON matches, their longest winning run since winning their first five matches in 2012.
• Are unbeaten in their last four AFCON matches in open play (D1).
• Their last three AFCON victories have all been by a single-goal margin; their last larger win was 2-0 vs Guinea-Bissau in 2023.
• Victory over Mozambique was their 49th AFCON win; a win here would make them the fourth nation to reach 50 AFCON wins (after Egypt, Nigeria and Ghana).
• At 19 years and 40 days, Yann Diomandé became the third player under 20 to complete five dribbles in an AFCON match, after Ilaix Moriba and Abdul Fatawu Issahaku.
• Diomandé won more duels than any other player against Mozambique (9).
• Amad Diallo scored his first AFCON goal against Mozambique.
• Diallo had the most total shooting involvement for Côte d’Ivoire against Mozambique (6: three shots, three chances created).
• Diallo and Diomandé jointly completed the most passes in the final third (22).
• Franck Kessié assisted Diallo’s goal; since his AFCON debut in 2019, Kessié has recorded five assists — only Sadio Mané has more (6).
• Have scored in their last five AFCON matches; last scored in six consecutive matches between the 2019 and 2021 tournaments.
• Wilfried Zaha recorded seven touches in the opposition box against Mozambique, more than any other player.

Cameroon – Key Statistics

• Began with a 1-0 win over Gabon.
• Fielded their youngest starting XI in an AFCON match since 2010, with an average age of 24 years and 347 days.
• Their clean sheet against Gabon was their first in six AFCON matches, and their first since the 2021 final against Egypt (0-0, lost on penalties).
• It was also their first clean sheet in an AFCON group match since their final group game in 2019 (0-0 vs Benin), having conceded in six successive group games.
• Are unbeaten in their opening match in their last six AFCON tournaments (W3 D3).
• Their six-match unbeaten run in opening fixtures is their best such streak.
• Their record in second group games reads P21 W12 D7 L2.
• Have only lost their second group match twice: in 1990 (1-0) and in 2023 (3-1), both against Senegal.
• Have won their second group match 12 times, including a 5-1 victory over Zambia in 2008 — their biggest second-match win.
• Their highest-scoring second group match was a 5-3 win over Zimbabwe in 2004, with Patrick M’boma scoring a hat-trick.
• Were unbeaten in 12 successive second group matches before losing to Senegal in 2023 (W9 D3).
• Have drawn 0-0 twice in second group games, both against Ghana (1982 and 2019).
• Drew their second group match in 1988 against Nigeria, the last time Morocco hosted AFCON.
• Have begun AFCON with successive wins five times (1970, 1972, 2002, 2006 and 2021).
• Have never lost their second group match after winning their opening game.
• Have failed to win their second group match five times after winning their opener, all ending in draws.
• In 21 second group matches, they have failed to score only three times.
• Victory would send Cameroon through to the knockout stages for the 17th time and for a fifth consecutive tournament.
• Completed only 172 passes in the opposition half against Gabon, compared to Gabon’s 228.
• Darlin Yongwa contested 22 duels against Gabon, the most in the match.
• Samuel Kotto made 11 clearances, the most by a Cameroonian player in the match.
• Bryan Mbeumo created six chances, including the assist for the winning goal.
• Since 2012, Mbeumo is only the third Cameroonian to create six or more chances in an AFCON match, alongside Georges-Kévin Nkoudou (2023) and Benjamin Moukandjo (2017).
• Mbeumo attempted six dribbles against Gabon, completing two.
• Goalscorer Karl Etta Eyong netted his first goal for Cameroon in his fourth appearance.
• Eyong is the youngest Cameroonian to score at AFCON since Christian Bassogog in the 2017 semi-finals.