Ivory Coast 1-1 Cameroon: Ivory Coast and Cameroon edge closer to AFCON knockouts

Ghislain Konan’s own goal saw Cameroon come back to draw 1-1 with Africa Cup of Nations holders Ivory Coast in Group F.

Cameroon had a great chance to win it late on, and all but confirm their place in the knockout stage, but Bryan Mbeumo saw his shot blocked brilliantly by Odilon Kossounou at the end of a rapid counter-attack.

Mbeumo’s Manchester United team-mate Amad Diallo was on target for Ivory Coast as he opened the scoring in the 51st minute of Sunday’s contest at Stade de Marrakech.

Amad’s superb opener came just after Franck Kessie saw a goal disallowed, with that incident coming off the back of Danny Namaso squandering a golden chance at the other end.

Namaso also hit the crossbar with a deflected attempt before Ivory Coast raced up the other end and Amad curled into the left-hand corner from the edge of the box.

But Ivory Coast’s lead lasted just five minutes as Cameroon, who had also seen Christian Kofane hit the woodwork in the first half, responded with Junior Tchamadeu’s cross looping in off the unfortunate Konan.

Both teams now sit on four points in Group F and are well placed to progress to the knockouts.

2 in 2. Amad Diallo. #TotalEnergiesAFCON2025 | #WeCelebrateDifferent pic.twitter.com/04P4TKyMzn

— TotalEnergies AFCON 2025 (@CAF_Online) December 28, 2025

Algeria are already sure of their place in the next round, with Riyad Mahrez’s penalty enough for them to see off Burkina Faso 1-0 in Group E.

Equatorial Guinea and Gabon are both out after respective losses to Sudan and Mozambique.

Data Debrief: Amad outshines Mbeumo

On MD1, no player created more chances (six) than Mbeumo, but even though the Cameroon attacker managed to get off three shots, he was only able to craft one opportunity for his team-mates against a resolute Ivory Coast defence.

At the other end, Mbeumo’s club-mate Amad scored his second goal of the tournament. He led the way in the match with an impressive five shots, though only one of those hit the target: his goal.

There were a combined 25 shots (13 for Ivory Coast, 12 for Cameroon) but only three opportunities that passed Opta’s threshold for “big chances” (two for Ivory Coast, one for Cameroon), and the expected goals battle was tight. Ivory Coast registered shots worth 0.97 xG, while Cameroon recorded 0.65 xG.