The Lionesses of Cameroun, who are making their first appearance in the World Cup, have equaled Nigeria’s long standing African record in the World Cup, after coming from behind to beat Switzerland 2-1 in their last group game yesterday morning.

The Camerounians, who lost 0-2 to Falcons in the final of the last AWC in Namibia, will meet China in the battle for quarterfinal in Edmonton on Saturday.

The Swiss took the lead when Ana Maria Crnogorcevic scored after 24 minutes but goals from Gabrielle Onguene two minutes after the break, and Madeleine Ngono Mani on 62 minutes sealed all three points for the African flag bearers.

At the 1999 edition of the World Cup held in USA, the Super Falcons made it to the second round, after beating Denmark in their last group game. Then, the championship was still in 16-team format. The quarterfinal game between Nigeria and Brazil ended in favoutr of the Samba girls, and since then, no other African team has made it beyond the group stage of the championship.

Cameroun, ranked 53, finished second in Group C with six points behind champions, Japan, who beat Ecuador 1-0 also yesterday, and have a maximum nine points from three games.
With three points, Switzerland, ranked 19, could still qualify for the knockout round as one of the four best third-place finishers across the six groups.