The Ivory Coast were a goal down on 38 minutes. Franck Kessié levelled just after the hour mark and Sebastien Haller netted the winner at 2-1 on 81 minutes. Kossounou was in the starting line-up and he played the full 90 minutes. It is the third AFCON win for the Ivorians and Ivory Coast is the first country since Egypt in 2006 to lift the trophy in their own country.
Ivory Coast reached the knockout stage as one of the four best third-placed teams in the groups. That was followed by a win against Senegal in the Round of 16, victory over Mali in the quarter-finals and DR Congo in the semi-finals.
Bayer 04 congratulates Odilon Kossounou and wishes him a great time celebrating with his teammates. The whole club is looking forward to his return.
Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personal Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have extended the contract with U19 midfielder Jonah Berghoff ahead of schedule. The Germany U18 international has signed professional terms with the club to 30 June 2030.
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Two months of preparation, five friendlies and the return of a familiar training camp location: After finishing fifth in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga last season, the Werkself will return to training on Tuesday, 23 June. Bayer04.de outlines the key dates in the 2026 summer timetable.
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With sixth place at the end of the 2025/26 Bundesliga campaign, Bayer 04 ended a season in the top third of the table for the ninth time in a row. While the Werkself were narrowly eliminated in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 by eventual finalists Arsenal, the Black and Reds reached the semi-finals of the DFB Pokal for the third season in succession. As in previous years, you once again have the opportunity to vote for your Player of the Season. Voting is exclusively for Bayer 04 Club members and only via the Bayer 04 app up to and including 11 June.
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