Ivory Coast have successfully overcome the first hurdle in Group E: They faced Equatorial Guinea on Wednesday night in Douala in Cameroon. The Ivorian favourites picked up their first three points thanks to the early and only goal scored by Max Gradel on five minutes. Odilon Kossounou, who featured in all of last year’s qualifiers for the Africa Cup of Nations, did not play in this match.
The next outing for the West African side is against Sierra Leone on Sunday, 16 January (kick-off: 17.00 CET). The final group match, on Thursday, 20 January (kick-off: 17.00 CET), is against the reigning champions Algeria. All AFCON matches are being broadcast on the streaming service DAZN.
Kossounou’s teammate Edmond Tapsoba is taking part in the tournament with Burkina Faso. Their opening match against hosts Cameroon began with a 2-1 defeat with the Werkself player not in the Burkina Faso line-up.
The next match in Group A is today, 13 January (kick-off: 20.00 CET). Cape Verde are the opponents. Burkina Faso round off the group stage against Ethiopia on Monday, 17 January (kick-off: 17.00 CET).
Before Kossounou and Tapsoba, 04 players on the Leverkusen books had previously played in the Africa Cup Nations:
Daniel Addo (Ghana, 1996 in South Africa)
The first Werkself player to appear at the Africa Cup of Nations was Daniel Addo. The midfielder joined Leverkusen from the Ghanaian club Accra Great Olympics at the age of 17 in 1993. He took part in AFCON three years later. After three wins in three games in the group stage and the quarter-final victory against Zaire, Addo and Co. played South Africa – and ended up on the wrong end of a 3-0 scoreline against the hosts. Ghana finished fourth after losing 1-0 to Zambia the third-place play-off. Two years after the tournament, the now 45-year-old, who mostly played for the second team at Leverkusen, joined Fortuna Düsseldorf.
Appearances at AFCON 1996: Two
Finish at AFCON 1996: Fourth
At Bayer 04: 1993 to 1998
Pascal Ojigwe (Nigeria, 2002 in Mali)
After two tournaments without any Black and Red involvement, Pascal Ojigwe became the second Werkself player to take part in the Africa Cup of Nations. As with his predecessor Addo, the defensive midfielder was able to win the group with Nigeria as well as the following quarter-final encounter. Going out of the tournament again came in the semi-finals – this time against Senegal. Dreams of winning the title faded after a 2-1 defeat after extra time. The Leverkusen player Ojigwe did end the tournament with a medal: Nigeria finished in third place after a 1-0 win against hosts Mali.
Appearances at AFCON 2002: Two
Finish at AFCON 2002: Third
At Bayer 04: 2000 to 2003
Hans Sarpei (Ghana, 2008 in Ghana)
Six years passed again before another Leverkusen player was at the Africa Cup of Nations. Hans Sarpei, who joined the Werkself from VfL Wolfsburg a few months before, was at a very special finals tournament: AFCON number 23 was played in Ghana – the home country of the Werkself left-back. The hosts qualified for the quarter-finals in second place but Sarpei and Co. were knocked out in the semi-finals in a 1-0 defeat against Cameroon. Good news: the now 45-year-old, who played in all six matches in the tournament, received the bronze medal following a 4-2 victory against Ivory Coast in the third-place play off.
Appearances at AFCON 2008: Six
Finish at AFCON 2008: Third
At Bayer 04: 2007 to 2010
Karim Haggui (Tunisia, 2008 in Ghana)
The Tunisian player Karim Haggui, who previously played in France for Racing Strasbourg, joined the Werkself in the summer of 2006. The central defender took part in the tournament in Ghana with Tunisia. Again, the team with the Leverkusen player in their squad, qualified for the quarter-finals. However, the quarter-finals stage marked the end for Haggui and Co. as they lost 3-2 after extra time to the finalists Cameroon. The now 37-year-old appeared for Tunisia in all four games.
Appearances at AFCON 2008: Four
Finish at AFCON 2008: Quarter-finals
At Bayer 04: 2006 to 2009
In their third friendly of this pre-season, Bayer 04 played on home soil for the first time – and won there too! The Werkself claimed a comfortable 4-0 victory against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion. Jeanuel Belocian (9’) and Nathan Tella (42’) gave a dominant Leverkusen a 2-0 lead at the break, which Afonso Moreira (51’) and Christian Kofane (53’) doubled after the break. Among the many second-half substitutions was Patrik Schick, who made his first friendly appearance of the summer.
Show more
The Werkself are finally back. On Saturday 8 August, Bayer 04 kick off the 2026/27 campaign with their opening match. But there’s far more than just a double-header in store for Werkself supporters. True to the motto ‘One day. Two teams. One club’, the BayArena and the Ulrich Haberland Stadium will be transformed into a world of excitement.
Show more
The Werkself continue their 2026/27 pre-season preparations with their third friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion on Wednesday 29 July (kick-off 15:00 CEST). Werkself-TV is broadcasting the match live and in full in a stream from 14:50 CEST...
After the children from the Bayer 04 Football Academy grilled Janis Blaswich and Simeon Rapsch last week, another group of 20 young Werkself fans gathered at the BayArena press conference room on Tuesday afternoon, 28 July . This time, the kids directed their questions at Tim Oermann and Jonah Berghoff. Defender Oermann raved about his school days, whilst talented midfielder Berghoff revealed to the young footballers, amongst other things, who his favourite player is – and he is also at Bayer 04. To round things off, the pair naturally obliged with all requests for autographs and selfies.
Show more
Bayer 04 are back on the pitch. Following the first training sessions, the Werkself play the first pre-season friendly on Saturday, July 18. The match against Oberliga club Sportfreunde Baumberg kicks off at 15:30 CEST in Monheim am Rhein. Fans unable to attend the match can watch head coach Carles Martínez’s first game in charge for free via a livestream at bayer04.de and on the Bayer 04 app, as well as on Werkself.tv (exclusively for members). Just log on and watch the games live. All the other Werkself preseason friendlies leading up to the 2026/27 season will also be streamed live for free.
Show more
