Cote d’Ivoire v Cameroon: How to watch this African football classic

Cote d’Ivoire and Cameroon meet in Abidjan on Saturday in a friendly match between two of Africa’s leading football nations.

The fixture will be played at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Ebimpe, with kick-off at 21h French time, 20h in Cameroon and 19h in Cote d’Ivoire (GMT). It will be broadcast in France on TV5MONDE, in Cote d’Ivoire on NCI and, probably, in Cameroon on CRTV.

The match comes after both sides began their qualification campaigns for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.

Ivorian midfielder Ibrahim Sangare described the contest as “a derby” at his pre-match news conference. Neither side will want to lose a meeting between two of the continent’s established football powers, a view shared by Cote d’Ivoire manager Herve Renard.

This will be the 22nd meeting between the countries since 1970. Cameroon hold the historical advantage, with nine victories compared with eight for Cote d’Ivoire. The teams have also drawn three times.

Their most recent encounter came on 28 December last year in the group stage of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco. The match ended 1-1 in Marrakech, with Amad Diallo putting Cote d’Ivoire ahead in the 51st minute before Ghislain Konan scored an own goal five minutes later.

Renard has faced Cameroon six times during his managerial career. His record against them is two wins, one draw and three defeats. His most recent meeting with the Indomitable Lions ended in victory, when he led Morocco to a 2-0 win in an Africa Cup of Nations 2019 qualifier on 16 November 2018.

Cote d’Ivoire have won both of their opening matches in qualifying for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations. They defeated Ghana 2-0 before beating Somalia 0-2.

Cameroon started with a 3-1 victory over Comoros, then drew 1-1 with Congo in their second match.

The Cote d’Ivoire squad is fully available for the friendly. Cameroon have one fitness concern, with Bayer Leverkusen forward Christian Kofane the only player in doubt.

Kofane missed the match against Congo but could still recover in time to feature against Cote d’Ivoire.