Cameroon and Serbia battled to a 3-3 draw Monday in a goal-filled match at the men’s World Cup in Qatar as they tried to keep alive hopes of advancing past the group stage.

The scoring outburst came after neither side netted a goal in its first game of the tournament, with Serbia falling 2-0 to Brazil and Cameroon losing 1-0 to Switzerland.

Cameroon opened Monday’s scoring with a goal in the 29th minute as Jean-Charles Castelletto tapped the ball in behind the goaltender off a corner kick.

Serbia responded during stoppage time in the first half, netting two goals in quick succession off the head of Strahinja Pavlovic and the foot of Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.

Serbia seized a 3-1 advantage in the 53rd minute as Aleksandar Mitrovic finished off a series of passes in front of Cameroon’s net.

But Cameroon mounted a comeback ten minutes later, striking twice in quick succession to even the score at 3-3.

Vincent Aboubakar snuck behind Serbia’s defense and lifted the ball over goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic.  Three minutes later, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting drove a left-footed shot into the net.

Cameroon closes its Group G schedule with a game Friday against Brazil, while Serbia plays Switzerland.  Both Cameroon and Serbia will need to win in order to have any chance of moving on to the knockout round.

Other games Monday include Brazil against Switzerland, South Korea facing Ghana, and Portugal against Uruguay.
…