In front of a sold-out crowd at the Côte d’Or Sports Complex in Saint-Pierre, West Ham United Academy midfielder Gabriel Caliste played the full 90 minutes as Mauritius fell to a brave 2-0 defeat to Cameroon in FIFA World Cup CAF qualifying.
The 18-year-old midfielder started as the small African island nation produced a brave performance competing well against a country 23 times its size, 127 places above them in the FIFA rankings.
It was a great opportunity for our young Academy midfielder to test himself against seasoned internationals. Among the Cameroonian ranks were the likes of Premier League stars Bryan Mbeumo and Carlos Baleba, Serie A winner Frank Anguissa, former Bayern Munich and PSG star Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Manchester United goalkeeper André Onana.
Cameroon, who have only failed to qualify for the World Cup three times in the last eleven editions, simply had to win the game to keep their qualification hopes alive.
Mauritius frustrated their opponents for almost an hour, keeping the game goalless until a defensive header fell kindly for Moumi Ngamaleu, who rounded goalkeeper Dorian Chiotti to open the scoring.
Manchester United’s Mbeumo, introduced as a substitute, sealed the result late on, converting from his own volleyed rebound to take Cameroon’s World Cup qualification hopes to the final matchday.
Elsewhere in Group D, Cape Verde were unable to confirm their first-ever World Cup qualification after being held to a dramatic 3-3 draw by Libya, despite coming from two goals down. To top the group and secure automatic qualification, Cameroon must now beat Angola and hope Cape Verde drop points at home to bottom side Eswatini.
Mauritius will complete their campaign at home to Libya on Monday afternoon, when victory would see them finish fifth in the six-nation group ahead of Eswatini.
