Cameroon and Ghana play out stalemate

Cameroon maintained pole position at the summit of Group F after their heavyweight clash with Ghana ended in a dour 0-0 draw at AFCON 2019.

Clarence Seedorf's defending champions came closest to breaking the deadlock in the first half with Christian Bassogog seeing a goal-bound effort brilliantly kept out by Richard Ofori.

Ghana had started brightly but were subdued by the early withdrawal of the injured Christian Atsu. The Black Stars struggled to create clear-cut openings but almost stole it three minutes from time when substitute Owusu Kwabena saw a thumping shot crash back off the crossbar.

Cameroon now have four points from two games played while Ghana have two, ahead of Benin's (one point) meeting with pointless Guinea-Bissau.

In the final round of matches in this group, Ghana will meet Guinea-Bissau while Cameroon face Benin on July 2.

Honours even between two contenders. This was a much hyped group-stage contest between two sides with nine titles between them, but it failed to ever truly ignite. The game was played at a slow tempo throughout with chances few and far between. Five-time champions Cameroon will be the happier of the two and know a victory in their final match will guarantee top spot in the pool. Ghana will still be very confident of progress but will rue the fact they couldn't take advantage of late opportunities to finally end their hoodoo of not beating the Indomitable Lions at this tournament.

Jonathan Mensah (Ghana). The defender was superb at the back, marshalling a stubborn rearguard throughout and willing to put his body on the line when it mattered.

9' - GHANA CHANCE! Kasim Nuhu side foots wide from 15 yards out after Cameroon had failed to deal with a high, diagonal ball towards the far post.

42' - CAMEROON CHANCE! Christian Bassogog powers down the right before feeding it down the wing and making his way into the middle to connect with Toko's slick pull back. He hammers in a first-time drive but sees it brilliantly tipped away by Ofori.

55' - GHANA CHANCE! Wakaso has another pop from distance and this time it fizzes just wide of Onana's left-hand post.

87' - GHANA CHANCE! Kwabena seizes upon a loose pass and drives at goal. He cuts in from left but sees his piledriver cannon back off the crossbar.