Cameroon kept alive their hopes of reaching the last 16 of the World Cup as they fought back from two goals down to draw a six-goal thriller with Serbia in Group G.
Cameroon took the lead through Jean-Charles Castelletto but Strahinja Pavlovic and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic responded to give Serbia a half-time advantage.
Aleksandar Mitrovic added a third for Serbia and they looked set for a win that would put them in a strong position to advance from the group.
However, the undefeated Lions roared back three minutes later thanks to Vincent Abu Bakr’s superb lob and Eric Maxim Choupo Moting’s equaliser.
Mitrovic had a chance to give his side the lead but the Fulham striker fired a shot wide in the closing moments after being narrowly tackled by Dusan Tadic.
Both sides lost their opening matches so the result left them two points behind second-placed Switzerland, who lost 1-0 to group leaders Brazil later on Monday.
Both Serbia and Cameroon need to win their final matches against Switzerland and Brazil respectively to keep their qualification hopes alive.
In one of the most exciting games of the tournament so far, Serbia started brilliantly and Mitrovic twice went close to giving his side the lead.
He hit the post before flashing a shot wide when the ball fell kindly to him in the box as Serbia made all the early runs.
However, Cameroon took the lead against the run of play when Nicolas N’Covolo flicked on a corner and Castellito slotted home his first international goal.
Serbia didn’t panic though and turned the game on its head in first-half stoppage time.
Pavlovic scored Serbia’s first World Cup goal 335 minutes into the game before Mlincic-Cevic beat Cameroon keeper Davies Ipsi with a low drive.
Dragan Stojkovic’s side were cruising to a comfortable victory when Mitrovic finished off a brilliant Serbian passing move to give them a two-goal cushion.
However, substitute Aboubakar gave Cameroon hope when he made a clear run and, perhaps thinking he was offside, cut past a defender and casually slotted the ball past Vanja Mlincic-Civic for one of the best goals of the tournament. threw for
Three minutes later the striker again beat the offside trap but this time volleyed home former Stoke City striker Chopo Moting’s ball from close range.
While Cameron looked dangerous as they pushed for the winner, it was Mitrovic who had the best chance to grab the victory, but he showed composure as Serbia were left to rue their failure to close out the match. given.
Defeat will leave Cameroon relying on Switzerland to beat Brazil to avoid elimination with a match to spare.
Instead, Rigobert Song’s side are hoping to get out of the group stage for the first time since 1990, although their final match will be a tough one against Brazil.
