Cameroon dropped central defender Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui from his World Cup squad in a surprising omission when coach Rigobert Song named his 26-man squad for Qatar on Wednesday.
Surprisingly, the coach also included two home players, Souaibou Marou and Jerome Ngom, who had won their first matches a few hours earlier in a friendly against Jamaica.
The team will be captained by Vincent Aboubakar, who competed as a teenager in the 2010 World Cup and again in Brazil in 2014, when the Indomitable Lions last appeared in the final.
It will also be a third World Cup for defender Nicolas Nkoulou, 32, and Bayern Munich attacker Eric-Maxime Choupo Moting, 33.
Nkoulou returned to the squad in September after a five-year absence, having retired from the squad after they won the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.
Ngadeu was also a member of that team, but had since remained a regular in Cameroon. He was out of the last round of friendlies two months ago and was out again for the trip to Qatar.
Song gave no explanation for the 31-year-old Belgian centre-back’s dismissal at a hastily arranged news conference on Wednesday, where reporters received a brief notice of the intention to name the team.
Song also included teenage goalkeeper Simon Ngapandouetnbu, who is on the books at Olympique de Marseille but has yet to play a top-level game. He is the only uncapped player on the roster.
Cameroon will play in an eighth World Cup, a record number of appearances for an African nation, and will face Switzerland, Serbia and Brazil in Group G, with their first match on November 24.
Equipment
Goalkeepers: Devis Epassy (Abha Club), Simon Ngapandouetnbu (Olympique de Marseille), Andre Onana (Inter Milan)
Defenders: Jean-Charles Castelletto (Nantes), Enzo Ebosse (Udinese), Collins Fai (Al Tai), Olivier Mbaizo (Philadelphia Union), Nicolas Nkoulou (Aris Salonika), Tolo Nouhou (Seattle Sounders), Christopher Wooh (Stade Rennes)
Midfielders: Martin Hongla (Verona), Pierre Kunde (Olympiakos), Olivier Ntcham (Swansea City), Gael Ondoua (Hannover 96), Samuel Oum Gouet (Mechelen), Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (Napoli)
Forward: Vincent Aboubakar (Al Nassr), Christian Bassogog (Shanghai Shenhua), Eric-Maxime Choupo Moting (Bayern Munich), Souaibou Marou (Coton Sport), Bryan Mbeumo (Brentford), Nicolas Moumi Ngamaleu (Young Boys Berne), Jerome Ngom (Colombe Dja), Georges-Kevin Nkoudou (Besiktas), Jean-Pierre Nsame (Young Boys Bern), Karl Toko Ekambi (Olympique Lyonnais)
