CAPE TOWN: Madag­ascar and Tunisia won away in World Cup qualification on Wednesday as two rounds of African group matches kicked off, but Cameroon were held by Eswatini after poor travel arrangements caused them to arrive only hours before kick-off.

Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions, who have been to more World Cup finals than any other African country, were held goalless by the small southern African kingdom who picked up their first point of the campaign.

It was a listless performance from a strong Came­roon side, including Prem­ier League players Andre Onana and Bryan Mbeumo, but not surprising as they had only arrived at their hotel in the South African city of Nelspruit around 15 hours before kick-off.

They had planned to fly from Cameroon to Nelsp­ruit, where Eswatini hos­ted the match because their own stadiums have been condemned as not up to international standard by the Confederation of African Football.

Because their charter left late, however, the Cameroon squad were unable to land at Nelspruit airport which had closed for the night.

They instead disembarked in Johannesburg, and had to wait three hours before making a five-hour bus journey to Nelspruit.

Manchester United goalkeeper Onana was a virtual spectator in South African city Mbombela. Brentford forward Mbe­u­mo was pro­m­inent in the opening half, and his second-half cross led to captain Vincent Aboubakar having a hea­der brilliantly tipped over by Mlamuli Makhanya.

It was the closest Came­roon, ranked 110 places above Eswatini, came to ending the deadlock as they seek a ninth World Cup appearance at the 2026 finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The draw left Cameroon on nine points at the halfway stage of the qualifying campaign, leading Group ‘D’ but only two points above Libya and the Cape Verde Islands.

Meanwhile, Tunisia stre­t­ched their lead in Group ‘H’ to five points as their leagues top scorer Hazem Mastouri scored in the fourth minute to secure a 1-0 away win over Liberia in Monrovia.

It was a winning start for Tunisia coach Sami Trab­elsi, back for a second stint in charge of the team.

Elsewhere, Madag­asc­ar’s new coach, former Fre­n­ch international Corentin Martins, got his tenure off to a superb start as they won 4-1 at the Central African Republic, who were hosting the match in Casablanca.

Central African Republic defender Hugo Gambor scored in the ninth minute but Madagascar bounced back to seal a comfortable win, including two goals from Rayan Raveloson Madagascar lead Group ‘I’ with 10 points, one ahead of the Comoros and Ghana. Ghana host Chad on Friday.

The winners of each of the nine groups qualify for the World Cup in North Am­e­rica next year, and the four best group runners-go into a playoff competition, chasing one extra berth.

Published in Dawn, March 21st, 2025