Bryan Mbeumo has travelled to Morocco for the 2026 Africa Cup of Nations, but there is mounting drama and confusion with his national team Cameroon
08:02, 19 Dec 2025Updated 09:05, 19 Dec 2025
Bryan Mbeumo and Andre Onana have endured a confusing few weeks before the Africa Cup of Nations(Image: 2025 Manchester United FC)
Few would look at Ruben Amorim’s situation at Manchester United and think: ‘This is a calm situation’. However, Bryan Mbeumo may find himself doing just that after linking up with his Cameroon colleagues.
Just as the summer signing found his feet at Old Trafford, he is departing the red side of Manchester to compete in Morocco for Cameroon at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). But the situation at the Indomitable Lions has grown chaotic as he has been called up to the national team by two different managers.
His former United colleague and international captain Andre Onana has also been called up for one Cameroon team and not the other. Marc Brys, the former manager of the country who was sacked by Cameroonian FA president Samuel Eto’o, is insisting he is still in post, despite David Pagou being appointed at the start of the month.
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Ahead of the start of the competition, which begins on December 21, two different Cameroon AFCON squad lists have emerged. Fortunately for Mbeumo, as one of his country’s star players, he has appeared on both.
The same cannot be said of Onana, who left United and was sent on loan to Trabzonspor after a poor start to this campaign. Brys was sacked by the Cameroon FA shortly after Eto’o, the iconic former Barcelona and Inter Milan ace, was re-elected as Cameroonian FA president after receiving 97% of the votes.
He and Brys had a fractious relationship, which stemmed from the Cameroonian sports ministry taking the decision to appoint him as manager instead of Eto’o. When Eto’o was re-elected, he took his majority as a mandate to dismiss the Belgian.
According to ESPN, a fierce meeting between Eto’o and his committee ended with them alleging Brys had committed “11 infractions” ranging from “disrespectful” and “biased” remarks, “professional misconduct” and “manipulation” of players, where they specifically accuse him of trying to turn them against the country’s FA.
Eto’o is the president of the Cameroonian FA(Image: 2024 FIFA)
Despite this, Brys insists he has not received any formal communication from the Cameroonian FA regarding his dismissal, even though Pagou is in situ. He has been working, business as usual, except this situation could not be more unusual.
He submitted his own squad list for the competition, featuring Onana as well as other experienced Cameroon stars Vincent Aboubakar, Eric Choupo-Moting and Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui. On the same day, Pagou issued his own squad for the tournament, without the aforementioned quartet.
Last week, confusion reined as to whether the excluded Onana, Aboubakar, Choupo-Moting and Ngadeu-Ngadjui would actually be involved in north Africa. A Cameroonian official has made it clear in the same source any player who is on Brys’ list, but not on Pagou’s, will not be involved.
Brys insists he has received no formal clarification he has been sacked(Image: AFP or licensors)
The former Cameroon manager, despite asserting that he is still the current boss, has been left furious by this situation. He specifically lashed out at Eto’o, claiming the experienced quartet have been excluded because they challenged the ex-Chelsea forward’s authority.
He told Afrik Foot: “Eto’o has left out important players, and leaders, because he’s obviously the one who made this list. How can you go to such a tournament without a world-class goalkeeper, or without Aboubakar? Because these are players with character, who stand up to the president.”
Cameroon’s tournament kicks off with a Christmas Eve clash against Gabon, before facing Ivory Coast on December 28 and Mozambique on New Years Eve.
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