
Burkina Faso were in the Round of 16 as group runners-up where they faced Gabon who also finished second in their group. In the Cameroonian city of Limbe, Tapsoba’s teammate Bertrand Traore – who used to play for Chelsea in England – missed a penalty early on (18'). The same player then opened the scoring for Burkina Faso. As a strike by Gabon was ruled out just before half-time following the intervention of VAR, they took the lead into the break.
The chances of winning increased for Tapsoba and Co-in the middle of the second half when a Gabon player was shown a second yellow card. However, they conceded a late equaliser in added time – leading to extra time. No more goals were scored. The Leverkusen central defender converted his penalty as the third taker and the game ended with a much celebrated 7-6 victory. Congratulations, Eddy.
In the quarter-finals, Burkina Faso face Tunisia, including FC Köln player Ellyes Skhiri, who surprisingly beat Nigeria 1-0. The match on Saturday, 29 January kicks off at 20.00 CET. The streaming service DAZN will broadcast the match live.
And the second Bayer 04 player to start in the Africa Cup of Nations is also still in the competition: Odilon Kossounou with the Ivory Coast play their Round of 16 tie on Wednesday, 26 January (kick-off: 17.00 CET – also live on DAZN). They are up against record winners Egypt including Liverpool superstar Mohamed Salah.

Since 2023, Bayer 04 has been organising regular free goalkeeping coach training sessions at the BayArena. As in previous years, the event attracted enormous interest in mid-October 2026. Around 140 participants – mostly goalkeeping coaches from the region, but also team and academy coaches as well as association staff – came to the Werkself stadium to gain expert knowledge on the subject of zonal marking. Through a theoretical keynote presentation and a practical session on the pitch, the participants gained insights into goalkeeping and goalkeeper training at Bayer 04.
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The international break produced a full range of emotions for Bayer 04’s women. While four Leverkusen players were in play-off action to try and reach the World Cup, including two important goals, there were others in friendly action. Here’s a round-up of all the results…
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The NB Vintage Collection is here and available now! Members enjoy an exclusive priority purchase period (online shop only). Non-members will then be able to purchase items from Saturday 17 October (10:00 CEST). Sales will also begin at the same time at the Bayer 04 Fanwelt.
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On Matchday 1 of the UEFA Europa League league phase, Lech Poznań suffered a heavy defeat at Crystal Palace. Now the Polish champions will be looking for a more successful outcome in their first home game against the Werkself this Thursday, 15 October (kick-off 18:45 CEST) - and banking on a strong attack. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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