Switzerland vs Cameroon LIVE World Cup 2022: Result, final score and reaction after Breel Embolo goal

Switzerland 1-0 Cameroon: Embolo did not celebrate after scoring against the country of his birth, in what proved to be the winner in a lively Group G clash

Fifa World Cup: Results and reaction from day fou

An apologetic Breel Embolo scored the winner against the country of his birth to hand Switzerland a 1-0 victory over Cameroon in their World Cup Group G clash at the Al Janoub Stadium on Thursday.

Embolo swept home a low Xherdan Shaqiri cross after 48 minutes and then stood still with a rueful frown on his face as his team mates celebrated around him. The 25-year-old was born in Yaounde but raised in Basel.

Cameroon were the better side in the opening half and might have had the lead as Karl Toko Ekambi, Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting and Martin Hongla all missed good chances against a lacklustre Switzerland side that battled to get out of first gear.

But the Swiss were much improved in the second period and took the lead through Embolo’s well-worked goal. Ruben Vargas missed an excellent chance to score a second but was thwarted by goalkeeper Andre Onana as Cameroon ran out of steam.

Follow all the reaction with our live blog below, before attention turns to Uruguay vs South Korea in Group H

Switzerland vs Cameroon latest updates

• Switzerland edged past a spirited Cameroon to make a winning start to their Qatar World Cup campaign at the Al Janoub Stadium
• 95’ - LAST DITCH BLOCK! Castelletto denies Seferovic, lunging to stop his shot from inside the box (SUI 1-0 CMR)
• 66’ - TOP SAVE! Onana makes brilliant stop from Vargas (SUI 1-0 CMR)
• 48’ - GOAL! Embolo smashes home Shaqiri’s cross to break the deadlock (SUI 1-0 CMR)
• 46’ - SITTER! Akanji, unmarked, plants a header wide from six yards at a corner (SUI 0-0 CMR)
• 35’ - CHANCE! Widmer makes a brilliant recovery challenge to deny Toko Ekambi a tap-in from six yards (SUI 0-0 CMR)
• 14’ - CHANCE! Akanji’s last-ditch challenge denies Choupo-Moting’s finish after going through one-on-one (SUI 0-0 CMR)
• 10’ - CHANCE! Toko Ekambi wastes glorious chance to break the deadlock, blazing over from 12 yards (SUI 0-0 CMR)
• Action continues with Uruguay vs South Korea in Group H

[24 November 2022 11:34 · Jamie Braidwood]

Switzerland 1-0 Cameroon

74 mins: And here come the Cameroon changes. The striker Vincent Aboubakar, who was a surprise omission from the starting team, replaces Chupo-Moting and immediately takes the armband. Georges-Kevin N’Koudou is on too.

[24 November 2022 11:31 · Jamie Braidwood]

Switzerland 1-0 Cameroon

70 mins: This time Shaqiri’s cross drifts long. Here comes a triple Swiss change, and Shaqiri is among those to be removed as well as Embolo. Interesting decision, that.

Frei, Okafor and Seferovic all come on.

[24 November 2022 11:29 · Jamie Braidwood]

Switzerland 1-0 Cameroon

67’ - DOUBLE CHANCE!

Switzerland are denied a second! They break into space once more - with Shaqiri cutting a dangerous ball back to Vargas. He looks certain to score - but Onana produces a great stop to his left.

Then, from the corner, Shaqiri whips in a lethal cross. Embolo is waiting for the tap-in, but Anguissa stretches at the last moment to clear! Great defending, although it was almost an own goal.

[24 November 2022 11:26 · Jamie Braidwood]

Switzerland 1-0 Cameroon

66 mins: Chance! Cameroon’s best moment of the half. Mbeumo floats a cross in from a set-piece and Anguissa rises well to meet it. The header is straigth at Sommer.

[24 November 2022 11:23 · Jamie Braidwood]

Switzerland 1-0 Cameroon

61 mins: Switzerland fly forward again - so much space for them now to attack into. Vargas is forced wide by the Cameroon defence, as he slashes wide. Have Cameroon gambled too much, too soon though. That’s the question.

[24 November 2022 11:20 · Jamie Braidwood]

Switzerland 1-0 Cameroon

59 mins: There’s lots of space appearing for Switzerland now. Cameroon have to be careful. Shaqiri plays through Vargas, who had Xhaka free in the middle. However Vargas was offside, which was a relief for the winger as his cross was ballooned over the bar.

[24 November 2022 11:17 · Jamie Braidwood]

Switzerland 1-0 Cameroon

57 mins: SAVE! Great work by Chupo-Moting, who beats Akanji around the outside to break into the box. Sommer makes the save at his near post, but Anguissa is furious after demanding the cut-back.

[24 November 2022 11:16 · Jamie Braidwood]

Switzerland 1-0 Cameroon

54 mins: Almost another lovely move from Switzerland. They again manage to break the lines as Akanji splits Cameroon with a ball through to Shaqiri, who then couldn’t squeeze through to Vargas.

[24 November 2022 11:13 · Jamie Braidwood]

Switzerland 1-0 Cameroon

52 mins: Now, can Cameroon respond. They were probably the better team in the first half but were caught cold from the restart. They barely had a touch from kick-off before Onana had to pick the ball out of his net.

[24 November 2022 11:08 · Jamie Braidwood]

GOAL! Switzerland 1-0 Cameroon (EMBOLO 48’)

BREAKTHROUGH! And what a lovely goal this is from Switzerland - scored by Embolo against the country of his birth!

Switzerland work it through the lines, with Xhaka playing into Freuler, who finds Shaqiri on the wing.

Shaqiri fires it across first time and Embolo is there to fire into the open net. The striker doesn’t celebrate out of respect, which is interesting.

The defending from Cameroon at the front post was quite poor- Embolo was left in acres of space - but the play leading to the chance was wonderful from the Swiss.