Our good friends at Opta have complied all the numbers and stats you need to assess the teams’ chances ahead of today’s Afcon Group A clash at the Stade d'Angondje.
- Cameroon are making their 18th appearance in the tournament. They have won it four times (1984, 1988, 2000, 2002), only Egypt have been more successful (7 trophies).
- Meanwhile, this is Gabon’s seventh participation in the African Cup of Nations; they have never gone further than the quarter-finals (1996, 2012).
- It’s also the second time Gabon have hosted the tournament after 2012 when they were co-hosts alongside Equatorial Guinea. Gabon were unbeaten on home soil (W3 D1), going out on penalties against Mali in the quarter-finals.
- Gabon won their only previous encounter with Cameroon at the AFCON; it was in the 2010 group stages (1-0).
- Edgar Salli’s 92nd minute strike helped Cameroon secure a 2-1 friendly victory over Gabon in their most recent encounter (September 2016).
- Cameroon will be assured a safe passage through to the next round with a point in this match whilst a win would guarantee progression for Gabon.
- Cameroon come into this match having ended a six-game winless streak in the African Cup of Nations (D4 L2); seeing off Guinea-Bissau in the most recent outing (2-1).
- Cameroon have the opportunity to go unbeaten across their opening three matches of an AFCON for the first time since 2006; they were knocked out of that competition in the next round however (quarter-final v Ivory Coast).
- Gabon are currently enduring a four-game winless streak in the African Cup of Nations (D2 L2); they have never been on a longer run without a win.
- Cameroon’s last four goals at the AFCON have all come from outside the box.
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has scored in six of his last nine AFCON appearances and has been directly involved in nine of the last 12 AFCON goals recorded by Gabon (scoring six and assisting three).
