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#7 1990 World Cup Quarter-final: England 3-2 Cameroon
The bright spot in England’s last half-century of World Cup performances is the 1990 World Cup which remains the only time since 1966 that England have reached the semi-finals. They did this thanks to a rather incredible comeback that has been forgotten in footballing folklore.
Cameroon were the darlings of the 1990 World Cup as they became the first African team to advance to the quarter-finals of the World Cup. They featured the 38-year-old Roger Milla, the brilliant enigmatic striker. An efficient English side dominated the first half and a goal from David Platt gave them the lead.
At half-time, Milla was brought on and by the 60th minute, he earned a penalty that was converted by Emmanuel Kunde. Cameroon then took the lead with a superb team move as another substitute Eugene Ekeke poked the ball past Peter Shilton. By the 83rd minute, Cameroon were still holding on to an improbable victory. It was then when Gary Lineker was upended as England won a spot-kick of their own. Lineker duly converted the penalty to take the game to extra-time where he won the game for the Three Lions with another spot-kick.
What propels this game above other similar games ranked below it is the stakes (a quarterfinal rather than a Round of 16). Cameroon were left wondering what if and even now no African team has reached the World Cup semi-final.
