Switzerland 2-1 Cameroon: What’s your prediction?
Switzerland play Cameroon in their World Cup opener on Thursday. Switzerland finished ahead of Italy in World cup qualifying. Cameroon are considered the least likely team in the group to reach the round of 16. They have won only one of their 15 World Cups since 1990. Cameroon are playing in an eighth World Championship. The team has a record number of appearances for African nations.
Switzerland and Cameroon have played at 19 World Cup finals. Switzerland made their debut in the 1934 tournament in Italy and they beat Saudi Arabia in 2002. Cameroon's best performance came in 1990. They lost all their group games at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups.
Switzerland's team is: Yann Sommer, Silvan Widmer. Granit Xhaka, Ricardo Rodriguez, Djibril Sow, Ruben Vargas, Xherdan Shaqiri.
Switzerland have qualified for a fifth World Cup in a row. They have appeared in 11 previous editions and reached the quarter-finals three times. Cameroon reached three of the last four finals but progressed no further.
Switzerland went unbeaten through qualifying and topped their group. They were top scorers in their Group A with 15 goals in eight games and only conceded twice. Switzerland drew both games against Italy and Northern Ireland and were held by Northern Irish.
Switzerland lost their first three matches in the Nations League A campaign. They bounced back to beat all of them in return fixtures. Switzerland made the Euro 2020 quarter-finals and knocked out world champions France on penalties in last 16. Cameroon have competed at more World Cups than any African country. They have won only once in their five World Cup appearances.
Cameroon beat Algeria 2-1 in the playoff to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar. Switzerland beat Cameroon 2 to 1 in their previous game.
Cameroon lost two friendlies in September. They have played only three internationals since qualying in March. Cameroon narrowly beat Burundi in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in June. Their other match against Kenya was cancelled.
