2nd December, 2025
Goalkeeper Andre Onana, who is on loan at Trabzonspor from Manchester United, has been left out of Cameroon’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) squad.
On the same day that the squad was named, the country’s federation announced that manager Marc Brys had been sacked. The tournament begins on December 21 in Morocco.
Onana joined Trabzonspor in the summer transfer window after falling down the pecking order at Old Trafford following a prolonged period of indifferent form and several high-profile mistakes. He is among a number of surprise Cameroon omissions. United forward Bryan Mbeumo has been named in the squad.
Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, who has made 66 appearances for the national team and has won two Serie A titles with Napoli, has also been left out. The former Fulham and Villarreal midfielder missed Cameroon’s defeat by Congo in November due to a hamstring injury, a loss that ended their hopes of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.
Vincent Aboubakar, who has scored the second-highest number of goals (45) for his country, behind Samuel Eto’o (56), is another surprise omission. The 33-year-old striker regularly captains the side and wore the armband as recently as that loss to Senegal on November 13. He joined Azerbaijani side Neftçi PFK in October.
Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting was another notable omission from Cameroon’s squad. The 36-year-old former Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain striker has scored 20 goals in 76 appearances for his country, but was not picked for the crucial World Cup qualifying game in November.
Aboubakar, Chupo-Moting, Onana and Anguissa have all been left out of Cameroon’s AFCON squad
The dismissal of Brys, 63, brings to an end his turbulent relationship with Eto’o, now the president of FECAFOOT, the country’s football federation.
Video footage emerged of Eto’o and Brys appearing to have a heated exchange in May 2024.
FECAFOOT then said in a statement that the decision to replace Brys had been taken following an emergency meeting on Tuesday, convened by Eto’o due to the “inappropriate behaviour” of Brys and his assistants, but the Belgian coach remained in his position.
Following Cameroon’s defeat by Congo last month, Brys has been replaced by 56-year-old coach David Pagou, who was appointed head coach of Cameroonian side Coton Sport FC on September 22.
Brys has been approached for clarification regarding the situation.
Last weekend, Eto’o was re-elected to his position as president of Cameroon’s football federation. This is despite the former Barcelona striker facing several legal issues during his time in the role.
The 44-year-old, who was first elected in 2021, was banned from attending Cameroon’s team matches for six months for breaching FIFA’s disciplinary code, “offensive behaviour and violations of the principles of fair play” and “misconduct” of officials in September 2024.
That punishment came less than three months after he was fined by Confederation Africaine de Football (CAF) following an investigation into alleged violations of its principles of ethics and integrity. Eto’o subsequently appealed the decision and denies any wrongdoing.
In June 2021, Eto’o was given a 22-month suspended prison sentence and fined £1.4million ($1.7m) in June 2022 after pleading guilty to a charge of tax fraud linked to his image rights when he played in Spain.
In December 2022, Eto’o issued an apology after he appeared to knee a man in the face outside a World Cup stadium in Qatar.
