"We didn't play our football" - Bryan Mbeumo disappointed with early AFCON exit

The Indomitable Lions suffered a 2-0 defeat at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium on Friday night after goals from Brahim Diaz and Ismael Saibari.

The West Africans had defied the odds of a group stage exit after cobbling a team together under new head coach David Pagou just weeks before the start of the tournament, as they made it through Group F unbeaten.

Cameroon then dominated South Africa in their last 16 encounter, but were second best against a Moroccan side aiming to win the AFCON on home soil.

Reflecting on their elimination, the Manchester United striker told BBC Sport Africa: "We didn't play our football and we saw in the second half that we were a much better team on the ball and we made them adapt a lot.

"They took their chances and congratulations to them."

"We have such a good group, such a quality group - young as well, so that's positive for the future," added Mbeumo.

A disappointed Pagou said: "It's true that the players were a bit timid at the start of the match. In the second half we saw some improvement and the team came back into the game.

"Overall, we are satisfied with this group, which gave a lot of emotions to the Cameroonian people. That was the objective.

“Unfortunately, Morocco stopped us in our tracks. We will go back calmly and continue our progression.”