After that, most of the action was in the French half.
A sudden flurry of action inside the French penalty area had Les Bleus scrambling to block Cameroon's shots as the game gathered pace.
Fabien Barthez was at full stretch to keep out a sidefooted shot from Pius Ndiefi on a cross from Idrissou.
Henry missed a golden chance to break the stalemate after 55 minutes when a loose ball fell to him inside the area but his tapped shot scraped the Kameni's right post.
Robert Pires replaced Wiltord with 30 minutes left on the clock, and Cameroon replied by sending on Samuel Eto'o for Pius Ndiefi.
The previous day, Eto'o scored two goals to help Real Mallorca win the Spanish Cup final and then flew to Paris.
Eto'o almost got on the scoresheet within a few minutes but he miscued his short-range tap-in after Thimothee Atouba had made a run down the left wing.
Modeste Mbami tested Barthez with a dipping long-range shot which the French goalie tipped over the bar.
At the other end there was little happening except for an occasional half-chance for Henry and Ludovic Giuly's thundering shot in the 77th minute.
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