Eswatini put their first point on the board in Group D after they held Cameroon to a 0-0 draw in their 2026 World Cup qualifier at the Mbombela Stadium in South Africa on Wednesday, March 19.

Marc Brys’ side remain unbeaten in qualifying and still occupy top spot, but they have opened the door for Libya or Cape Verde to climb above them following a frustrating evening in Limpopo.

The King’s Shield arrested a four-match losing streak, however, they are still rooted to the foot of the group, three points behind Mauritius.

Cameroon bossed possession in the first half, although they created only marginally more chances than Eswatini, who seemed happy to sit back and play counter-attacking football.

Vincent Aboubakar had a good opportunity to break the deadlock on 12 minutes when he managed to get in behind the defence, but the striker rushed his shot and failed to even test Mlamuli Makhanya.

Martin Hongla at least hit the target with his effort from the edge of the box 12 minutes later, although Makhanya made a comfortable save.

Brys would not have been happy with the performance of his players in the opening 45 minutes given their dominance on the ball and he made two changes at the break, bringing on Danny Namaso and Joyskim Dawa, with Frank Magri and Flavien Enzo Boyomo making way.

The pattern continued at the start of the second half as Zdravko Logarusic’s side looked to maintain their rigid defensive formation, while the visitors probed away inside the opposition half.

Namaso tried his luck from range on 57 minutes after finding a pocket of space, but the substitute wasn’t able to keep his shot down and the ball sailed over the goal.

Innocent Dlamini then threatened at the other end with a driving run from midfield on 61 minutes before unleashing an effort that also cleared the crossbar.

Makhanya had to be alert four minutes later as Bryan Mbeumo took aim from just outside the area, with the goalkeeper turning away his powerful strike.

The hosts dropped deeper and deeper in the closing stages, determined to deny Cameroon the goal they sought, but sloppiness in possession wasn’t aiding their cause.

Makhanya came to Eswatini’s rescue with 13 minutes left on the clock when he pulled off a fine save to keep out Aboubakar’s header from Mbeumo’s dangerous cross and Andre Onana was on hand to the King’s Shield in the 85th minute after they launched a quick counter.