Brentford's Bryan Mbeumo made his Cameroon debut in a 2-0 defeat to Uzbekistan as the Indomitable Lions lost the first of two final warm-ups prior to naming their World Cup squad.

The forward represented France at junior level before switching allegiance to the central African nation of his father last month.

The 23-year-old played the full 90 minutes at Goyang Stadium near Seoul in the north of South Korea, where Nicolas Nkoulou returned for the first time since winning the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations final.

The Greece-based defender, 32, was persuaded to come out of international retirement by coach Rigobert Song for November's World Cup in Qatar.

Mbeumo joined Brentford, with whom he has scored six Premier League goals, in 2019 after coming up the youth ranks in France, who he represented between 2015 and 2020 at varying age levels.

Yet Russia-based duo Hojimat Erkinov and Oston Urunov scored either side of half-time to give Uzbekistan the win over the five-time African champions, who begin their World Cup campaign against Switzerland in November.

Cameroon, who are also grouped with Brazil and Serbia in Group G at the finals, will take on hosts South Korea in another friendly, in the capital, on Tuesday.

Later on Friday, Morocco and Ghana take on Chile and Brazil respectively as they continue their preparations for the World Cup, with African champions Senegal facing Bolivia on Saturday.

Source: BBCsports