RADES (Tunisia) - The saying that it's not how you start, but how you finish, could not be more appropriate for Cameroon's current form.
Since losing their opening match of the 2027 World Cup African qualifiers to Cape Verde in Rades, Tunisia, in November, Cameroon have embarked on a historic winning streak.
By the time the final buzzer sounded in Sunday's game against hosts Tunisia, Cameroon had reminded everyone of their mission by beating the former African champions 83–61 in front of their home fans.
This victory was Cameroon's seventh consecutive win, prompting the question of whether they could be on the brink of the longest unbeaten run in the history of the World Cup African Qualifiers. They still have four games left.
The Indomitable Lions are currently 7–1 and hold the longest unbeaten run in the current campaign.
Even if Côte d'Ivoire beat Egypt on Saturday to improve to 7–1, the Ivorians would still have an unbeaten run of only 4–0, unlike Cameroon's 7–0.
Cameroon missed out on World Cup spots in the last editions of the African Qualifiers, finishing 7-5 in the 2019 tournament and 4-8 in 2023.
History books show that only a few teams have won more than seven games in a row in the history of the African qualifiers.
Longest unbeaten run in the World Cup African Qualifiers as of 28 August 2026
Team | Unbeaten run | African Qualifiers | Eventual Record | Qualified for the World Cup? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Tunisia | 10-0 | 2019 | 10-2 | Yes |
Nigeria | 9-0 | 2019 | 10-2 | Yes |
Côte d'Ivoire | 8-0 | 2023 | 10-2 | Yes |
Angola | 8-0 | 2023 | 10-2 | Yes |
Egypt | 7-0 | 2023 | 8-4 | Yes |
Reflecting on Cameroon's early defeat at the hands of Cape Verde, Jeremiah Hill said: “That game gave us a lot of regret, because we knew as a team it was a game we should have won with the team that we brought, but since then we knew that we didn’t give ourselves anymore space for dropping games.
"Once we figured we wanted to be in Qatar, we have to win games, whether how we did today by 20+ points or by one point; we just have to win.”
Cameroon Coach Alfre Aboya added: “In the beginning something was missing, but the guys got it together to play the way we know they can play.”
Cameroon will face Guinea on Sunday. Tunisia will go up against South Sudan
FIBA