Though Cameroon failed to qualify for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, they made it to the World Cup qualification stage during 1990, quite successfully. The team defeated Nigeria and Tunisia in the final round playoff. They were drawn with Romania, Soviet Union and Argentina in the final tournament (Group B). Cameroon defeated Argentina by 1-0, later defeated Romania by 2-1 but unfortunately lost to the Soviet Union by 4-0. The Cameroon team achieved a new feat by being the first side to top a World Cup Finals group with a negative goal difference.
In the second round of the World Cup, Cameroon won against Colombia 2-1, thanks to Roger Milla who scored two goals in the extra time. Cameroon faced England in the quarter finals. The match was quite exciting as David Platt scored for England at minute 25. Cameroon bounced back into the game in the second half and took the lead at the 65 minute. In the 83rd minute, England however equalized with a penalty goal from Lineker. With a penalty in the 105th minute, Lineker made 3-2 for England. This match in the World Cup against England was the most disappointing match for the Cameroon fans and supporters.
The 1994 World Cup in the USA saw Cameroon qualify with other African teams like Nigeria and Morocco. However, they were drawn into Group B in the final tournament with others teams like Russia, Brazil and Sweden. They played their match against Sweden with a 2-2 draw. Despite their determination to win the rest of the matches, Cameroon had a disappointing loss to Brazil by 3-0 and Russia by 6-1. In the 1998 World Cup in France, Cameroon qualified with five African countries. Later, the team was drawn into group B with other teams like Austria, Chile and Italy. The first two games against Chile and Austria resulted in a draw and later after their loss to Italy by 3-0, Cameroon were removed from the Group B.
Cameroon qualified for the 2002 World Cup and was drawn into Group E alongside Saudi Arabia, Ireland, and Germany. Their first match was against Ireland which led to a draw 1-1 and later they went on to defeat Saudi Arabia, 1-0. Germany defeated Cameroon by 2-0 which led to further team disappointment.
In the 2006 World Cup qualifying round Cameroon was drawn alongside Libya, Sudan, Egypt, Benin and Côte d'Ivoire in Group 3. Until their final game, Cameroon was at the forefront of the tournament; however a draw against Egypt (1-1) and Côte d'Ivoire’s subsequent win over Sudan prevented Cameroon from making it to the World Cup.
4 Time Champion African Cup of Nations (1984, 1988, 2000, 2002) 1 Afro-Asian Cup of Nations Champion (1985) 2 CEMAC Cup Champion (2003, 2005) 1 CEMAC Cup Runners-up 2 Central African Games Champion (1976, 1987) 4 UDEAC Championship Champion (1984, 1986, 1987, 1989) 1 UDEAC Championship Runners-up 1 African Under-17 Championship (2003)
World Cup record
Round 1 World Cup – 1982Quarterfinal World Cup – 1990Round 1 World Cup - 1994Round 1 World Cup - 1998Round 1 World Cup - 2002
African Nations Cup record
Round 1 African Nations Cup – 1970Third place African Nations Cup – 1972Round 1 African Nations Cup – 1982Champions African Nations Cup – 1984Second Place African Nations Cup – 1986Champions African Nations Cup – 1988Round 1 African Nations Cup – 1990Fourth place African Nations Cup – 1992Round 1 African Nations Cup – 1996Quarter finals African Nations Cup – 1998Champions African Nations Cup – 2000Champions African Nations Cup – 2002 Quarterfinals African Nations Cup – 2004Quarterfinals African Nations Cup – 2006Qualified for African Nations Cup – 2008