Following Cameroon's failure qualify for the 2006 World Cup, finishing one point behind qualifiers Ivory Coast in their table, Makoun was called up to the national squad to be part of the Cameroonian 2006 African Nations Cup team. He played an important role in a match against Togo, setting up a goal for Samuel Eto'o, in a 2–0 win. However, Makoun started and played the whole game, as he scored in the epic 11–12 penalty shootout quarter-final loss against Ivory Coast.