Philadelphia Union defender Olivier Mbaizo earned his first senior team start for the Cameroon Men's National Team on Thursday.
Mbaizo's start came in Les Lions Indomptables 4-1 win over Mozambique in game three of the qualification group stage of Africa Cup of Nations 2021. The 23-year-old's previous cap for the Indomitable Lions came on September 6, 2016 as a substitute in a friendly vs. Gabon. Mbaizo also has experience with the Cameroon Under-23s for the Africa U23 Cup of Nations in Egypt from Nov. 8-14, 2019. He started all three matches that saw Cameroon go 1-1-1. Earlier in 2019, he was called up to the U23 training camp from Oct. 26-Nov. 4, and for a U23 camp from October 7-15. Before that, he joined the team in September when they took on Tunisia in the Third Round of qualifiers: At Cameroon (Sept. 6; W 1-0) and at Tunisia (Sept. 10; L 1-2).
Mbaizo and Cameroon will face Mozambique once more on Monday, November 16th.