The Indomitable Lions, who were unbeaten in the group matches and the Round of 16, finally bowed out of the biggest stage of African football after losing 2-0 against hosts Morocco in a sold-out fixture at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat.
Brahim Díaz and Ismael Saibari scored in either half to send Morocco to the semi-finals. Díaz struck for the fifth time to put the Atlas Lions ahead before Saibari delivered the final blow.
A free-kick delivered by Abde Ezzalzouli evaded the Cameroon wall before falling to Nayef Aguerd, whose clever cross found Saibari. The PSV Eindhoven midfielder, who was unmarked at the far post, powered home a low effort to make it 2-0.
Despite heading to the 2025 edition of the AFCON with a lot of uncertainty, Cameroon enjoyed a good run, beating Gabon 1-0 in the opener, drawing 1-1 against African champions Ivory Coast, before concluding their preliminary matches with a 2-1 win against Mozambique.
In the Round of 16, Cameroon came up against a formidable South African side, but they had no trouble dispatching them 2-1.
Cameroon on the rise
“We are satisfied with these boys because they gave a lot of emotions to the Cameroonian people and that was the goal. We will now quietly return and continue our progress,” Pagou told Flashscore after the game.
“We’ve played against great teams. We know this is a tough competition. We are going home to check up where it went wrong. I’m holding back a lot of good things from this AFCON.”
On whether Cameroon’s target at the 2025 edition was to reach the quarters stage, Pagou responded: “I have never stated here the goal of the Indomitable Lions was the quarterfinals. We came here to go as far as we can. We did not have a month of working together, but this is a group that is on the rise.
“There is a bright future for our young players, many of whom are playing in continental competition for the first time. We have learned many lessons and leave the tournament with a lot of positives.”
Discussing the game against Morocco, Pogou said: “We competed well against Morocco and we leave the tournament with our heads held high. We faced some difficulties, but we came back well in the second half.
“The second goal we conceded decided the match. Overall, I am satisfied with the performance.”
There was a late penalty call after Manchester United forward Bryan Mbeumo felt he had been fouled inside the area. Speaking on the foul and whether the referee had committed an error, Pogou instead praised Morocco’s 12th man for pushing the team.
“I said Africa is full of the best referees,” said Pogou before adding, “I stand firm on this. There are facts of the game that can happen... We bend to the laws of the game. The referees are still men. They can be wrong in good faith. I tip my hat to the Moroccan public. That’s the role of the 12th man.”
Mbeumo technical leader
With the Confederation of African Football (CAF) confirming the AFCON will now be played every four years from 2028, with a new African Nations League taking place every year, Pogou was asked about the changes.
“It’s up to us to perform to qualify for the World Cup and the Africa Cup of Nations. I am making a suggestion to CAF in place of AFCON, to organise an intermediate competition so that at least every two years, there is a continental competition,” explained Pogou.
On the performance of Mbeumo, who failed to score in five matches but provided one assist, Pogou said: “This was his first AFCON, he wanted to do good things.
“Unfortunately, the adaptation, maybe with his new teammates, was not the best. This is the future of our national team. He’s our technical leader and he’s starting to become our locker room leader.”
Cameroon won their first AFCON in 1984, and won it again in 2000 and 2002. The 2017 AFCON was the last tournament to date that Cameroon won.
