A second half strike from Breel Embolo was enough for Switzerland to get the win against Cameroon in their World Cup opener.
It wasn’t all one way traffic as Cameroon missed a bunch of chances in the first half to become the first African team to score at this year’s tournament. Unfortunately, the wait continues.
Swiss goalie Yann Sommer had a great game with a man of the match performance between the sticks. He produce save after save to keep his team in the game in the first half.
Switzerland came out after the break eager to get a goal and control of the game and that came within the opening 3 minutes of the second half. Xherdan Shaqiri’s accurate pull-back was clinically dispatched by Cameroon-born Breel Embolo. As a mark of respect to his country of birth, the Monaco forward chose not to celebrate the goal, instead holding both his hands up.
Before the game, Embolo spoke with the media about playing against Cameroon, “It’s very special. It’s my hometown and my mum and my dad come from there, my family, most of them come from there, so it’s a special game for me and my family,”
It’s Switzerland’s sixth straight opening game at the World Cup without defeat, with their last loss coming against Germany in 1966.
With a game against competition favourites Brazil to come on Monday, the Swiss will be delighted with the 3 points here. For Cameroon, they’ll be looking to bounce back against Serbia to stand a chance of qualifying for the knockout round.
