Tapsoba and Burkina Faso faced Mauritiana in their first match in Group D. It looked for a long time like being an opening draw, but Aston Villa's Bertrand Traoré snatched the three points with a penalty in the 96th minute. The points were then shared against Algeria, with a last-minute goal again deciding the outcome - although this time in favour of the Algerians, who made it 2-2 in stoppage time. In their last group encounter, Burkina Faso lost 2-0 to Angola, meaning they finished second in Group D with four points. Tapsoba played every minute of all three games.
Morocco started the tournament with a 3-0 win against Tanzania. Adli came on in the 71st minute of the Group F opener with the score at 1-0, and set up the second goal for Azzedine Ounahi shortly after. In their second match, the North Africans had to settle for a 1-1 draw against DR Congo, with Adli again being introduced in the latter stages. Morocco sealed top spot in the group with a 1-0 victory against Zambia, with Adli coming on at half-time.
The host nation are also in the last 16. A 2-0 win over Guinea in the opening match of the tournament proved to be enough, despite subsequent 1-0 and 4-0 defeats to Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea. Kossounou watched all three games from the bench. Ivory Coast progressed to the round of 16 as one of the four best third-placed sides.
The last-16 ties will be played from Saturday to Tuesday (27-30 January). Tapsoba and Burkina Faso take on Mali, while Kossounou and Ivory Coast are up against Senegal. Should both win, the two Leverkusen centre-backs will then come up against each other in the quarter-finals. Adli and Morocco, meanwhile, face South Africa.
The quarter-finals will take place on 2 and 3 February, the semi-finals on 7 February. After the third-place playoff on 10 February, the final will be played the next day at 21:00 CET.
THE ROUND OF 16 AT A GLANCE (all times CET)
Odilon Kossounou (Ivory Coast):
29.01, 21:00: Senegal v Ivory Coast
Edmond Tapsoba (Burkina Faso):
30.01, 18:00: Mali v Burkina Faso
Amine Adli (Morocco):
30.01, 21:00: Morocco v South Africa
The German Football League (DFL) has announced the three candidates for the title of Bundesliga Rookie of the Month for January. That includes Werkself player Jarell Quansah. Fans of Bayer 04 can vote for their favourite on the Bundesliga app from now until Thursday, 5 January (23:59 CET).
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Bayer 04 have agreed a loan move for U19s striker Ken Izekor to join Bundesliga 2 club Eintracht Braunschweig on loan for the rest of the 2025/26 season.
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