The Cameroon national football team (French: Équipe du Cameroun de football), also known as the Indomitable Lions (French: les lions indomptables), represents Cameroon in men's international football. It is controlled by the Fédération Camerounaise de Football, a member of FIFA and its African confederation CAF. The team has qualified for the FIFA World Cup eight times, more than any other African team, and four times in a row between 1990 and 2002. However, the team has only made it out of the group stage once. They were the first African team to reach the quarter-final of the World Cup in 1990, losing to England in extra time. They have also won five Africa Cup of Nations. Cameroon is the first and, as of 2022, only African country to defeat Brazil in either friendly or tournament play, besting them in the 2003 Confederations Cup and 2022 FIFA World Cup by identical 1-0 scores. History 1956–2000: Early years Cameroon played its first match against Belgian Congo in 1956, losing 3–2. They first qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations in 1970, but were knocked out in the first round. Two years later, as hosts, the Indomitable Lions finished third after being knocked out by their neighbours and future champions Congo in the 1972 Africa Cup of Nations. They would not qualify for the competition for another ten years. Cameroon qualified for its first FIFA World Cup in 1982. With the increase from 16 teams to 24, Cameroon qualified along with Algeria to represent Africa at the tournament in Spain. Cameroon was drawn into Group 1 with Italy, Poland, and Peru. In their first game, Cameroon faced Peru and drew 0–0. They then held Poland goalless before a surprise 1–1 draw with eventual winners Italy. Despite being unbeaten, they failed to qualify for the second round, having scored fewer goals than Italy. Two years later, Cameroon qualified for the 1984 Africa Cup of Nations, held in Ivory Coast. They finished second in their first-round group before beating Algeria on penalties in the semi-final. In the final, Cameroon beat Nigeria 3–1 with goals from René N'Djeya, Théophile Abega and Ernest Ebongué to become champions of Africa for the first time. Cameroon qualified for the 1990 World Cup by surpassing Nigeria and beating Tunisia in the final round playoff. In the final tournament, Cameroon were drawn into Group B with Argentina, Romania and the Soviet