World Cup 2026: the Eto'o and Onana camps clash over Cameroon's failure to qualify

It only took a hashtag to rekindle the embers of a national trauma. While attending on June 11, from the stands of the Azteca Stadium in Mexico, the opening match of the 2026 World Cup between Mexico and South Africa, the president of the Cameroonian Football Federation (Fécafoot), Samuel Eto’o, posted a terse message on his social networks: “#IlFautAssumer”.

No names are mentioned, no explanation is given. Yet, from Yaoundé to Douala, the implication was instantly decoded. In a country where football resembles a state religion, the message is perceived as a missile sent in the direction of André Onana, reigniting the war of narratives regarding the true responsibility for the Indomitable Lions’ failure to qualify for the major North American tournament.

The weight of words, the clash of egos

To understand the explosive impact of this hashtag, we must go back two years. In 2024, the atmosphere surrounding the national team was already unbreathable. Aware of the tensions, star goalkeeper André Onana tried a gesture of leadership before the press: “In case of failure, I wouldn’t want the youngest to be blamed... So I will take full responsibility.”

What was meant to be a media shield for his teammates has, over time and with Cameroon’s elimination, become a political weapon. By bringing the verb “assumer” (“take responsibility”) back from the media closet, Samuel Eto’o didn’t just prod his former protégé: he sought to impose the idea that the sporting disaster was down to those on the pitch, effectively exonerating the leadership bodies.

Two camps, two realities

Since the disappointment of the qualifiers, Cameroonian public space has been fractured into two camps with irreconcilable perspectives. Within Fécafoot’s circles, the line of defense is clear. The failure to qualify would be the direct result of certain senior players’ egos. André Onana, but also striker Vincent Aboubakar, have been singled out.

For publicly siding with coach Marc Brys, who had been made “public enemy number one” by Samuel Eto’o and Fécafoot, the two players have been put on trial. They are blamed as such: “André Onana and Vincent Aboubakar are largely responsible for the Lions failing to qualify because they created a toxic atmosphere within the den and that undermined the morale of the group.”

On the other side, supporters of the Manchester United goalkeeper and a significant portion of commentators reject this personalization of the failure. For them, elimination is simply a symptom of a deeper issue: chaotic governance. They point to unstable management of Cameroonian football, marked by recurring conflicts between the Fécafoot, the Ministry of Sports, and the technical staff of the team. Controversies over the management of equipment, disagreements over staff organization, as well as tensions related to certain trips during the qualifiers are regularly cited as factors that undermined sporting preparation and group stability.

A stinging verdict

This debate, far from being limited to supporters, is engaging intellectuals and the country’s former football legends. The iconic ex-goalkeeper of the Lions, Joseph-Antoine Bell, now refuses to be part of the targeted bashing and prefers a systemic reading of the disaster. “We must stop telling ourselves we are rebuilding when we never said when we were destroyed,” he snaps, highlighting that the decline of Cameroonian football is an old reality that the leaders refuse to face.

Other voices are more accusatory. The journalist Jean-Claude Mbede does not hesitate to lay the political responsibility for the shipwreck directly at the feet of the Fécafoot executive director. According to him, Samuel Eto’o’s management, centered around the “cult of personality” and permanent power struggles, sacrificed sporting performance on the altar of political maneuvering. “Cameroon is not playing at the World Cup today because you [Samuel Eto’o] decided to sacrifice an entire country,” he declared in an “Open Letter” to the Fécafoot president.

National crisis

In the public sphere, Eto’o’s publication acts more as a catalyst than a simple message. It crystallizes already opposing perspectives and transforms Cameroon’s non-qualification into a lasting battle of narratives. Between institutional responsibility, sporting failure, and a leadership crisis, no objective diagnosis has yet been made.

Cameroonians are no longer just wondering how the five-time African champion nation failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. They are asking how a team once so respected could become a battleground, where leaders and players clash through posts while the rest of the world celebrates the festival of football without them.