Eto'o Fils equalised for Cameroon shortly before half-time

Cameroon's bid for a fifth successive World Cup appearance began brightly with victory over Benin in Yaounde on Sunday.

The four-time Cup of Nations winners won 2-1, after Samuel Eto'o Fils and Rigobert Song scored first-half goals.

The Squirrels, who appeared in their first Nations Cup in Tunisia earlier this year, opened the scoring when Seidah Konabe's long-distance strike soared into the left-hand corner of the goal after 11 minutes.

Yet on a watery surface following heavy rain before the match, the Indomitable Lions eventually began to turn the screw.

After captain Rigobert Song missed a header, Samuel Eto'o Fils made no mistake three minutes before half-time as he crashed home Herve Tum's flick-on following a Cameroon corner.

It took the home side just three minutes to turn a loss into a lead as Song atoned for his earlier miss as he headed home Geremi's fine cross in first-half stoppage time.

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In Abidjan, Ivory Coast beat Libya 2-0 as the Elephants look to keep pace with Cameroon in the group.

The Elephants dominated the early stages of Sunday's tie, and were buoyed by the presence of Arsenal's Kolo Toure and Marseille's Didier Drogba.

By the midway point of the first half, Tchiressoua Guel had hit an early effort against the crossbar, Drogba had seen his strike palmed over and then Bonaventure Kalou headed against the bar.

Although Libyan captain Eltaib flashed a shot over for the visitors just after the half-hour, it was the Ivorians who deservedly broke the deadlock through Aruna Dindane.

Guel teed up the Anderlecht striker with a clever pass which Dindane finished beautifully.

Just before half-time, Toure had a goal disallowed for offside and the pressure on the Libyan defence continued in the second period.

Frogab and Zokora both went close for the home side before the Ivorians were awarded a penalty after 62 minutes.

It was unclear why the spot-kick, which the Libyans protested furiously, was given yet Drogba made no mistake from 12 yards, thumping the ball home before celebrating with a dance in front of the delirious Elephants fans.

Egypt started their campaign brightly with a 3-0 away win against Sudan.

Abdul Halim Ali got the Pharaohs' group campaign off to a flying start as he headed home Hosmi Abdour's cross from the right after eight minutes.

In the second half, goals from Mohamed Abou Treiksa and Mohamed Abdel Wahab wrapped up the points and a first competitive victory for Egypt's new Italian coach Marco Tardelli.

The 2006 World Cup qualifiers double as qualifiers for the 2006 Cup of Nations in Egypt.