Samuel Eto'o is a retired Cameroonian professional footballer who played as a striker for the Cameroon national football team from 1997 to 2014. He is currently Cameroon's all-time goalscorer with 56 goals and 118 appearances, which also puts him as his nation's 2nd-most capped player behind Rigobert Song (137). He has represented his country at 4 FIFA World Cups (1998, 2002, 2010, 2014), 6 Africa Cup of Nations (2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010), and the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. He has helped Les Lions Indomptables win both the 2000[1] and 2002 Africa Cup of Nations finals[2] and also reached the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup Final, which they lost to France. He earned his first cap for Cameroon in 1997 during a 5–0 loss in a friendly against Costa Rica. However, he wouldn't score a goal until 2000 in a 3–0 win against Ivory Coast in a 2000 Africa Cup of Nations group stage match.[3] His only hat-trick while playing for Cameroon would come in a 3–1 win against Angola in a 2006 Africa Cup of Nations group stage match.[4] He eventually decided to retire from international duty in 2014 after joining Everton.[5]
Scores and results list Cameroon's goal tally first.[6]
| Goal | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 28 January 2000 | Accra Sports Stadium, Accra, Ghana | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2000 African Cup of Nations | ||
| 2. | 6 February 2000 | 1–0 | 2–1 | ||||
| 3. | 10 February 2000 | 2–0 | 3–0 | ||||
| 4. | 13 February 2000 | 1–0 | 2–2 | ||||
| 5. | 19 April 2000 | Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé, Cameroon | 3–0 | 3–0 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification | ||
| 6. | 28 January 2001 | Stade de Kégué, Lomé, Togo | 1–0 | 2–0 | |||
| 7. | 1 July 2001 | Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé, Cameroon | 1–0 | 2–0 | |||
| 8. | 7 January 2002 | Stade du 4-Août, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso | 1–0 | 3–1 | Friendly | ||
| 9. | 29 January 2002 | Stade Babemba Traoré, Sikasso, Mali | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2002 African Cup of Nations | ||
| 10. | 27 March 2002 | Charmilles Stadium, Geneva, Switzerland | 1–1 | 2–2 | Friendly | ||
| 11. | 26 May 2002 | Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium, Kobe, Japan | 1–0 | 2–2 | |||
| 12. | 6 June 2002 | Saitama Stadium 2002, Saitama, Japan | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2002 FIFA World Cup | ||
| 13. | 27 March 2003 | 7 November Stadium, Radès, Tunisia | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2003 Tunis Four Nations Tournament | ||
| 14. | 19 June 2003 | Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup | ||
| 15. | 8 February 2004 | Stade Mustapha Ben Jannet, Monastir, Tunisia | 1–2 | 1–2 | |||
| 16. | 6 June 2004 | Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé, Cameroon | 1–1 | 2–1 | |||
| 17. | 4 July 2004 | 1–0 | 2–0 | ||||
| 18. | 5 September 2004 | Osman Ahmed Osman Stadium, Cairo, Egypt | 2–3 | 2–3 | |||
| 19. | 4 June 2005 | Stade de l'Amitié, Cotonou, Benin | 4–0 | 4–1 | |||
| 20. | 21 January 2006 | Cairo Military Academy Stadium, Cairo, Egypt | 1–0 | 3–1 | |||
| 21. | 2–1 | ||||||
| 22. | 3–1 | ||||||
| 23. | 25 January 2006 | 1–0 | 2–0 | ||||
| 24. | 29 January 2006 | 2–0 | 2–0 | ||||
| 25. | 3 June 2007 | Antoinette Tubman Stadium, Monrovia, Liberia | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2008 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier | ||
| 26. | 22 January 2008 | Baba Yara Stadium, Kumasi, Ghana | 1–3 | 2–4 | |||
| 27. | 2–4 | ||||||
| 28. | 26 January 2008 | 4–0 | 5–1 | ||||
| 29. | 30 January 2008 | Tamale Stadium, Tamale, Ghana | 1–0 | 3–0 | |||
| 30. | 3–0 | ||||||
| 31. | 31 May 2008 | Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé, Cameroon | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier | ||
| 32. | 8 June 2008 | Stade George V, Curepipe, Mauritius | 2–0 | 3–0 | |||
| 33. | 21 June 2008 | Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé, Cameroon | 1–0 | 2–1 | |||
| 34. | 2–1 | ||||||
| 35. | 11 October 2008 | 1–0 | 5–0 | ||||
| 36. | 2–0 | ||||||
| 37. | 11 February 2009 | Stade Robert Bobin, Bondoufle, France | 2–1 | 3–1 | Friendly | ||
| 38. | 3–1 | ||||||
| 39. | 5 September 2009 | Stade Omar Bongo, Libreville, Gabon | 2–0 | 2–0 | |||
| 40. | 9 September 2009 | Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé, Cameroon | 2–0 | 2–1 | |||
| 41. | 14 November 2009 | Fez Stadium, Fez, Morocco | 2–0 | 2–0 | |||
| 42. | 17 January 2010 | Estádio Nacional da Tundavala, Lubango, Angola | 2–1 | 3–2 | |||
| 43. | 21 January 2010 | 1–1 | 2–2 | ||||
| 44. | 19 June 2010 | Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg, South Africa | 1–0 | 1–2 | |||
| 45. | 24 June 2010 | 1–1 | 1–2 | ||||
| 46. | 11 August 2010 | Stadion Poznań, Poznań, Poland | 1–0 | 3–0 | Friendly | ||
| 47. | 2–0 | ||||||
| 48. | 4 September 2010 | Anjalay Stadium, Belle Vue Harel, Mauritius | 1–0 | 3–1 | |||
| 49. | 2–1 | ||||||
| 50. | 3 September 2011 | Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé, Cameroon | 3–0 | 6–0 | |||
| 51. | 7 October 2011 | Stade des Martyrs, Kinshasa, DR Congo | 1–1 | 3–2 | |||
| 52. | 11 November 2011 | Stade de Marrakech, Marrakesh, Morocco | 3–1 | 3–1 | |||
| 53. | 13 November 2011 | 1–0 | 1–1 | ||||
| 54. | 23 March 2013 | Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé, Cameroon | 1–0 | 2–1 | |||
| 55. | 2–1 | ||||||
| 56. | 1 June 2014 | Borussia-Park, Mönchengladbach, Germany | 1–0 | 2–2 | Friendly |
| scope=col | Year | scope=col | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 5 | ||
| 2001 | 2 | ||
| 2002 | 5 | ||
| 2003 | 2 | ||
| 2004 | 4 | ||
| 2005 | 1 | ||
| 2006 | 5 | ||
| 2007 | 1 | ||
| 2008 | 11 | ||
| 2009 | 5 | ||
| 2010 | 8 | ||
| 2011 | 4 | ||
| 2013 | 2 | ||
| 2014 | 1 | ||
| Total | 56 |
| scope=col | Competition | scope=col | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friendlies | 8 | ||
| FIFA World Cup qualification | 18 | ||
| Africa Cup of Nations tournaments | 18 | ||
| Africa Cup of Nations qualification | 5 | ||
| FIFA World Cup finals | 3 | ||
| FIFA Confederations Cup | 1 | ||
| Other tournaments | 3 | ||
| Total | 56 |