Cameroon clawed back from being two goals behind to draw a thrilling six-goal match with Serbia in Group G, maintaining their chances of making it to the World Cup‘s round of 16.
Jean-Charles Castelletto gave Cameroon the lead, but Strahinja Pavlovic and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic answered to give Serbia the lead at the break.
Serbia looked to be cruising to a win that would have put them in a good position to advance from the group after Aleksandar Mitrovic added a third goal.
Vincent Aboubakar’s incredible lob and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting’s equalizer three minutes later helped the Indomitable Lions come back.
After being set up by Dusan Tadic, Mitrovic had a chance to give his team the lead back, but he curled a shot wide in the dying seconds.
This result puts them two points behind Switzerland in second place, who fell to group leaders Brazil 1-0 later on Monday. Both teams lost their initial match.
To maintain their chances of qualifying, Serbia and Cameroon both need victories in their remaining matches against Switzerland and Brazil, respectively.
Serbia got off to a strong start in what was undoubtedly the most exciting game of the tournament so far, and Mitrovic came dangerously close to giving his team the lead twice.
After the ball dropped to him favorably in the box as Serbia made all the early running, he struck the post before slicing a shot wide.
However, Nicolas N’Koulou flicked on a corner, and Castelletto tapped in his first international goal from close range to give Cameroon the lead against the flow of play.
However, Serbia remained composed and changed the course of the match in the last seconds of the first half.
After 335 minutes of play, Pavlovic headed in Serbia’s first World Cup goal, and Milinkovic-Savic then used a low drive to beat Devis Epassy of Cameroon.
After Mitrovic completed an outstanding Serbia passing play to give them a two-goal lead, Dragan Stojkovic’s team appeared to be cruising to victory.
Although he may have thought he was offside, substitute Aboubakar gave Cameroon hope when he sprinted clear, cut inside past a defender, and gently flicked the ball over Vanja Milinkovic-Savic for one of the best goals of the competition.
Three minutes later, the striker once more avoided the offside trap and squared the ball to Choupo-Moting, an ex-Stoke City striker, who leveled the score from a close distance.
Even though Cameroon appeared dangerous when they pushed for a winner, Mitrovic had the best opportunity to steal the victory, but he curled wide, leaving Serbia to be disappointed in their inability to end the game.
In the event of a loss, Cameroon would have needed Switzerland to defeat Brazil in order to survive elimination with one game remaining.
Instead, despite the fact that their final game will be a challenging match against Brazil, Rigobert Song’s team still has a chance to advance past the group stage for the first time since 1990.
