Cameroon get their Africa Cup of Nations campaign under way against Guinea on January 15 in Yamoussoukro.
Rigobert Song’s side are in Group C at the tournament in the Ivory Coast, up against defending champions Senegal as well as Guinea and Gambia. They are among the favourites for the trophy and are certainly expected to qualify from the group.
That said, there are some issues within the camp. Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana flew out to West Africa immediately following the 2-2 Premier League draw with Tottenham on January 14, but he may well not be able to start this opening match. There also remain tensions between the player and his manager following their spat at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Regardless of their starting keeper, Cameroon will be expected to start their campaign with a victory against a team 34 places below them in the FIFA rankings. Any other result will see the pressure on Song increase.
The Sporting News will be following the Cameroon vs. Guinea match live, providing score updates, commentary, and highlights as they happen.
MORE: The race for the Africa Cup of Nations Golden Boot
Cameroon vs Guinea live score
| 1st Half | 2nd Half | Goal scorers | |
| Cameroon | 0 | 1 | Magri |
| Guinea | 1 | — | Bayo |
Confirmed lineups:
Cameroon (4-2-3-1, right to left): Ondoa; Castelletto, Wooh, Moukoudi, Yongwa, Ntcham, Kemen, Zambo-Anguissa; Magri, Toko Ekambi; Nkoudou
Subs: Ngamaleu, Tolo, N’Jie, Ateba, Tchamadeu, Gonzalez, Epassy, Neyou, Moumbagna, Elliott, Ngapandouetnbu, Tchato
Guinea (4-3-3 right to left): Kone; A.Conte, Jeanvier, Diakhaby, S.Sylla; Moriba, Konate, Guilavogui; Camara, Kamano, Bayo
Subs: A.Keita, I.Sylla, Sow, N. Keita, Diakite, K.Cisse, S.Cisse, M.Camara, Kante, F.Conte
MORE: What happened in Group C opener between Senegal and Gambia
Cameroon vs Guinea live updates, highlights, and commentary
59 mins: It’s a struggle for Guinea to even get up the pitch at the moment. They’re being penned back, as Sylla concedes a corner and takes a knock to the face for his troubles. Kemen’s shot then goes through a crowd of players and away to safety, from Guinea’s perspective.
56 mins: Nkoudou hits a pretty dreadful free kick way over the crossbar. Guinea are about to make some much-needed changes, as one Conte replaces another.
55 mins: Cameroon are getting a number of set piece opportunities now. Some indiscipline from Guinea, albeit they’ve defended well at times today.
52 mins: Remarkably, that was Cameroon’s first effort on target today – and it brought the goal they were craving. They’re now big favourites to go on and win this.
That cross from from N’Koudou 🤤🤤 pic.twitter.com/7Rci6Glfud
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) January 15, 2024
GOAL! Cameroon 1-1 Guinea – It’s Magri with a towering header at the back post to equalise for Cameroon. The cross from the left was very inviting from Nkoudou, begging for Magri to rise and nod back across goal, down and in. Game on!
48 mins: Here comes a great counterattacking chance for Guinea, but they slow it down too much, with Guilavogui delaying his pass due to a risk of offside. The chance quickly disappears.
47 mins: There needs to be more crispness and tempo about Cameroon in this second half, especially given that Guinea will almost certainly sit even deeper now they have a man fewer. Nkoudou is the key man on the left flank, you feel.
SECOND HALF: We are back up and running.
Here’s a proper look at that controversial red card decision, which could end up proving decisive in this game:
Guinea captain Kamano SENT OFF! 🟥
Correct decision? 🗯️👇 pic.twitter.com/qdQKpZR4Rx
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) January 15, 2024
HALF TIME: Well, well. Guinea have the advantage in terms of goals, but a major disadvantage because they will play the second half with just 10 players. Cameroon have enjoyed plenty of possession but they’ve struggled to break down Guinea after that early Mohamed Bayo goal. They should get more opportunities with an extra man in the second 45 minutes.
#Guinea captain Francois Kamano sent off.
Syli Nationale are still 1-0 up vs #Cameroon.#AFCON2023 pic.twitter.com/Ybh6zpP6qt
— Oluwashina Okeleji (@oluwashina) January 15, 2024
RED CARD! The Egyptian referee Ibrahim Mutaz has indeed brandished the red card and Kamano is off. Possibly a little harsh, but it’s a repeat of what happened earlier in the day with Ebou Adams of Gambia.
Guinea are down to 10 men on the stroke of half time, as a devastated Kamano is consoled. by teammates and staff.
46 mins: Goodness me, there’s a VAR check for a possible red card after Guinea forward and captain Francois Kamano was booked for what appeared a stamp (of sorts) on Magri. The referee is looking at the monitor.
45 mins: We’re now into four added minutes at the end of this first half.
43 mins: That should really be a yellow card for Christophe Wooh after he felled Moriba to stop a Guinea counterattack. The referee just gave a foul. Nkoudou then runs it out of play when he had options in the middle to cross to.
41 mins: Diakhaby took a bash to the face, so we’ll have another delay. There ought to be a big chunk of added time at the end of this first half.
39 mins: The Cameroon pressure is certainly increasing, but their composure in the Guinea box is still letting them down. Nkoudou is creating a few decent openings with his pace down the left, while Ntcham drilled wide from range.
36 mins: Nkoudou drills in a dangerous looking free-kick but it bounces up and kindly into the arms of Guinea goalkeeper Ibrahim Kone.
34 mins: It’s been tepid fare since the break, Cameroon labouring to break down this solid Guinea defence.
30 mins: Diakhaby has been impressive cleaning up at the back for Guinea, with Cameroon continually denied before they can muster a shot.
It breaks at the other end and Sylla tries an audacious long-range lob to try and catch Ondoa out. It was over, but it wasn’t too far off. Time for a drinks break in these hot conditions, and a chance for Song to rally his troops.
28 mins: Toko Ekambi is flagged offside. He’s another Cameroon player who hasn’t seen much of the ball in this opening period.
25 mins: Battling play from Nkoudou dropping into midfield looks to get Cameroon forward, but both sides are being rather wasteful with the ball at the moment. Rigobert Song’s men have offered precious little in the final third thus far.
22 mins: The first booking of the game goes to Cameroon’s Frank Magri, for a needless late challenge. No inch being given by either side, but it’s making for stop-start stuf at times.
20 mins: Zambo-Anguissa cannot reach a deep Cameroon free-kick. They need to get him in the game more, you’d suggest, given his importance in the middle of the park.
18 mins: Castelletto has gone quite heavily in on Camara and left the Guinea man down – in fact both players were committing very strongly to that 50-50 with the referee imploring them to calm down a touch.
14 mins: Good play from Cameroon’s attacking right-back Castelletto, but for the umpteenth time already, the Indomitable Lions are caught on the counter when they lose possession, leaving too many players up the pitch. It really is very open.
11 mins: Guinea are good value for this lead. They’ve opened up the Cameroon defence, especially in the wide areas.
GOAL! 1-0 Guinea! The game has really opened up now, both teams looking to spread themselves wide and get direct runners going at the opposition defence. Ondoa is alert to block one shot but he cannot keep out Mohamed Bayo on the follow-up.
There’s a VAR check here but the goal should really stand, surely… and it does.
Guinea LEAD Cameroon! 🇬🇳🤯 pic.twitter.com/b60vmIubBj
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) January 15, 2024
7 mins: Guinea whip in a free-kick from the right flank and Moriba’s delivery is a good one, finding the head of Diakhaby who nods over from near the penalty spot. The first genuine chance.
5 mins: Fabrice Ondoa is the cousin of Andre Onana in Cameroon’s goal. And he’s no rookie; having played more than 40 times for his country. The green shirts have seen the majority of the ball early on.
2 mins: Zambo-Anguissa signals Cameroon’s aggressive intent early on with a needless shove into Guinea defender Diakhaby on the byline. A fairly quiet start, especially from the stands, which are not full.
KICK OFF: We are under way in Yamoussoukro.
A little bit of the gloss has been taken off this fixture in the tournament’s ‘Group of Death’ with the absences of Aboubakar and Serhou Guirassy, as well as Andre Onana, but it still ought to be a decent game this evening.
🔴 Vincent Aboubakar et André Onana au stade de Yamoussoukro. 🦁🇨🇲#AFCON2023 #CAN2023
📸 @CRTV_web pic.twitter.com/ltldF8xdRs
— AllezLesLions (@AllezLesLions) January 15, 2024
15 minutes until kickoff: As we get ready for this Group C, it’s worth a reminder that Senegal got their campaign off to a perfect start earlier today with a ruthless 3-0 win over Gambia. Cameroon and Guinea will both fancy their chances of snatching the other automatic qualification spot alongside Sadio Mane and co.
30 minutes until kickoff: There’s never a dull moment where Andre Onana and Cameroon international duty is concerned, is there? This latest episode is rather ironic considering Onana had to go some way to build a bridge with Rigobert Song, after their falling-out at the 2022 World Cup.
Song explained his decision to bring the United goalkeeper back into the squad: “It all depended on him. He knew what he had to do. If he’s on the list, it’s because he did the right thing. He’s one of the best goalkeepers, the door was always open. There was never a problem with Andre. Today, we are satisfied that he is reunited with the group.”
Here’s the full story on that Cameroon spat.
TEAM NEWS: The teams are in and the headline news is that there’s no Andre Onana for Cameroon. Vincent Aboubakar is also missing. Naby Keita is only on the bench for Guinea. Here are your official graphics.
⚽️🔥 #MATCHDAY
Voici les XI #LionsIndomptables qui commenceront le match. #CAMEROUN 🇨🇲🆚 🇬🇳 #GUINEE
📆 15/01/2024
⏰ 18H00
🏟️ Stade Charles Konan Banny
📍 Yamoussoukro #CMRGUI | #WECANMAKEIT | #CANTOTALENERGIES2023 | #CMRMAU | #GOLIONS | #ALLEZLESLIONS | #LETSROARTOGETHER pic.twitter.com/we80MHuVTV— Les Lions Indomptables Officiel (@LIndomptables) January 15, 2024
La compo du Syli 🐘🇬🇳#CAN2023 #AFCON2023 #TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 pic.twitter.com/WIq16iKXhn
— 𝟏𝟎𝟎% 𝐅⚽⚽𝐓🇬🇳 (@CentPCentFoot) January 15, 2024
1 hour, 10 mins until kickoff: We’ll bring you the official team news soon, but it seems there will be no Vincent Aboubakar for Cameroon, with boss Rigobert Song dealt a major blow with news of the striker’s injury on the eve of this match.
At his pre-match press conference, Song said: “The absence of Aboubakar is a loss because he is a leader and has shown his ability for years. The other players are ready.”
Vincent Aboubakar and Karl Toko Ekambi scored 𝟭𝟯 of Cameroon’s 14 goals at the last AFCON tournament 🇨🇲🤝
Deadly duo 🦁 pic.twitter.com/xLiJRdKpBu
— LiveScore (@livescore) January 15, 2024
1 hour, 30 mins until kickoff: It’s been a mixed start for some of the big-hitting nations in this AFCON. Nigeria had to settle for a 1-1 draw against Equatorial Guinea in their opening game, while Egypt needed a 97th minute Mo Salah goal to salvage a point of their own against Mozambique. With Ghana beaten by Cape Verde, it’s only been the Ivory Coast – who began their campaign as hosts with a routine 2-0 win – and Senegal who have started strongly from the big names. Senegal are 2-0 up on Gambia at the moment and cruising.
Which camp will Cameroon join, the underwhelmers or the undeniables?
2 hours prior to kickoff: Andre Onana took a private jet to be in the Ivory Coast in time for this match. Will he start the game?
Andre Onana on his way to AFCON straight after the Man Utd match. ✈️
Cameroon play today. 🇨🇲 pic.twitter.com/6PuvAHhCE6
— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) January 15, 2024
Cameroon vs Guinea confirmed lineups, team news
Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana does not start after joining up late with Song’s squad. Napoli star Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa is the standout name in midfield with captain Vincent Aboubakar ruled out of the attack.
Former Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita is only on the Guinea bench, with Bundesliga hotshot Serhou Guirassy absent completely. The VfB Stuttgart striker was expected to be be one to watch at the tournament amid growing transfer links to Manchester United after scoring 17 Bundesliga goals so far this season.
Cameroon (4-2-3-1, right to left): Ondoa; Castelletto, Wooh, Moukoudi, Yongwa, Ntcham, Kemen, Zambo-Anguissa; Magri, Toko Ekambi; Nkoudou
Subs: Ngamaleu, Tolo, N’Jie, Ateba, Tchamadeu, Gonzalez, Epassy, Neyou, Moumbagna, Elliott, Ngapandouetnbu, Tchato
Guinea (4-3-3 right to left): Kone; Antoine Conte, Jeanvier, Diakhaby, Sekou Sylla; Moriba, Konate, Guilavogui; Camara, Kamano, Bayo
Subs: A.Keita, I.Sylla, Sow, N. Keita, Diakite, K.Cisse, S.Cisse, M.Camara, Kante, F.Conte
Cameroon vs Guinea live stream, TV channel
Here’s how to watch this AFCON 2024 match across selected areas of the world’s major regions:
| Region | TV | Streaming |
| USA | — | Fubo, BeIN Sports Connect, Fanatiz |
| Canada | — |
BeIN Sports Connect, Fanatiz, Fubo Canada |
| UK | Sky Sports Football, Sky Sports Main Event | Sky GO, Now TV |
| Australia | BeIN Sports 1 | BeIN Sports Connect |
| India | — | FanCode |
