Song backs Cameroon to secure World Cup spot

by Staff Reporter

Tuesday Nov 04, 2025. 15:00

Former Cameroon international Alex Song believes that the nation will secure its place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup despite a sub-par performance in the group stage of qualifying.

Cameroon finished second in group D of African qualifying behind Cape Verde with five wins, four draws and one loss. Having collected 19 points, the Indomitable Lions secured one of four spots in the second round of African qualifying.

Speaking at the CAF Champions League and Confederations Cup draw in Johannesburg on Monday, Song expressed that most Cameroonians expected their nation to top the group and qualify for the World Cup automatically.

“Of course, Cameroon, always when you’re going for the tournament or for the game, you’re going to win the game. It’s not easy. Like I said, you know, African football [has improved] a lot,” he said.

“When we saw the first group at the beginning of the stage, we said, ‘Cameroon will go through.’ But no, the football is not the reality.

“I think we [had] the control of the [group], but we missed maybe two games and then it was very difficult to come back. Now we have to learn [from] this one. And then we have two big finals. We said two finals,” said Song.

Cameroon will face the Democratic Republic of the Congo on 13 November in Morocco in a one-off semi-final. The winner will advance to play against either Gabon or Nigeria in the final for a place in the FIFA Play-Off Tournament, with a trip to the World Cup on the line.

In Song’s view, failure to qualify is not an option for the Indomitable Lions. He believes that come June, they will be in North America for football’s biggest event.

“Cameroon, we know, we don’t think about it like we’re not going to the World Cup. Every Cameroonian, if you ask anyone, they will say like, ‘[We] have to be there’. And then I’m sure, I’m confident, we will try to be part of this big, we said like, that’s the big, big tournament in the world is playing the World Cup. And then we will try to do [our] best to be there,” he said.

The former defensive midfielder enjoyed a long and successful career, playing the majority of his career at Arsenal in the English Premier League and racking up 49 caps for the Indomitable Lions.

By Nic Gleeson