Cameroon will be back to the World Cup after an eight-year gap, forcing Algeria star Riyad Mahrez to wait until at least 2026 to return to the biggest stage.
The Indomitable Lions just did enough Tuesday with a late goal in a 2-1 win in Bilda that eliminated Algeria who were missing West Ham United player Saeed bin Rahma.
Cameroon now joins Ghana, Senegal, Morocco and Tunisia as the continent’s five representatives at next year’s tournament in Russia.
Karl Toko Ekambi scored the all-important goal in the 120th minute of the match to silence the Algerian crowd after Touba had scored in the 119th minute from Rachid Ghezzal’s corner.
Eric Choupo-Mouting had made 1-0 for Cameroon normal time with his goal coming from the loose after Algerian defenders failed to clear the ball from a corner kick.
After being locked at 1-1 aggregate after extra time, the game had to be separated in extra time to get the winner.
Algeria had the first chance of the game within the first five minutes through Riyad Mahrez; whose long range effort from outside the box went just over the crossbar.
Cameroon then responded well, and created a chance of their own almost immediately, when Léandre Tawamba latched onto a through-ball by Martin Hongla, but he could not find the target.
Both sides pushed forward on search of the opening goal with Toko Ekambi’s 16th minute effort well saved by Rais M’Bolhi in the Algerian side’s goal.
Cameroon then took the lead in the 22nd minute, when Choupo-Moting broke the deadlock for the Indomitable Lions with a finish from close range.
Algeria responded well and pushed forward in search of an equaliser with chances falling to Islam Slimani, whose shot was well saved by Andre Onana in the final five minutes of the first-half.
The second-half started with Algeria still piling pressure on the Indomitable Lions, and desperately in need of an equaliser.
Cameroon were also threatening, as Gaël Ondoua came close to extending the lead in the 67th minute with a diving header in the box that crashed against the far post after a cross in the area.
Both sides pushed forward in search of a winner but neither could find an opening in the 90 minutes and the game ended 1-1 on aggregate with extra time looming.
Ahmed Touba score for Algeria through a header in the 119th minute to make it 1-1 on the night and put Algeria 2-1 up on aggregate.
Toko Ekambi i then grabbed a winner at the dying minutes of the extra-time played to seal a victory for the Indomitable Lions.
