Cameroon have recorded their first point of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar after coming from a 3-1 down to draw Serbia in a six-goal thriller stalemate in their penultimate game of Group G at the Al Janoub Stadium on Monday morning.

Surprising to many, Cameroonian first choice goalkeeper André Onana was left out of the matchday squad following reports of clash with the team’s head coach Rigobert Song over the Inter Milan goalkeeper’s playing style.

Both teams came close to finding the back of the net inside the opening 20 minutes of the encounter. Aleksandar Mitrović almost put Serbia ahead in the 10th minute but his effort struck the post before firing another chance from close range slightly off the post.

Kunde gave Cameroon their first shot on target in the game when the winger launched a bouncing ball from the top right corner of the pitch but Serbia goalkeeper Milinkovic-Savic did enough to save the shot.

Just on the half hour mark, Jean-Charles Castelletto broke the deadlock for Cameroon. A Serbian defender couldn’t deal well with Nouhou Tolo’s corner kick and made his way to Castelletto who calmly slotted the ball into an empty net.

It was the first time Cameroon would take the lead in a FIFA World Cup match since the 2010 edition of the competition in South Africa against Denmark but went ahead to lose the match 2-1.

Serbia changed the momentum of the game close to the end of the first half, scoring two goals in three minutes to capture the lead.

Strahinja Pavlović equalised for Serbia with a powerful header from Dušsan Tadić free-kick assist before Sergel Milinković-Savić put the European nation ahead from a shot from outside the box to give Serbia a 2-1 halftime lead.

Serbia looked to have sealed the game when they extended their lead with Mitrović’s 53rd minute goal from a one-two play in the Cameroon box but the lions would soon come back roaring a few minutes later.

Substitute Vincent Aboubakar pulled one back for Cameroon in the 63rd minute after he chipped the ball over goalkeeper which was initially ruled out for an offside but was later awarded by VAR.

Three minutes later, Aboubakar picked a run from right side of the pitch and played it to Erik Choupo-Moting, who went one-on-one with the goalkeeper and calmly slotted the ball in to level the game for Cameroon to savage the first point for the Indomitable Lions in this World Cup.

Cameroon has now ended its eight-game losing streak at the finals of the FIFA World Cup and can only hope to beat Brazil in the final match of the group, with other results going in their favour to stand a chance of progressing to the knockout stage of the competition.