Odilon Kossounou and Ivory Coast take on Guinea-Bissau in the opening game on Saturday night. The hosts then face Nigeria on 18 January, when Kossounou was set to come up against Werkself teammate Victor Boniface until the striker suffered an injury during preparations for the tournament, forcing him to return to Germany early. The Ivorians' third and final fixture in Group A is against Equatorial Guinea on 22 January.
Meanwhile, Edmond Tapsoba and Burkina Faso play their first match against Mauritiana in Group D on 16 January. That's followed by the clash with Algeria on 20 January, before Angola await on 23 January.
Then on 17 January, the third Bayer 04 player will get started in the tournament as Amine Adli and Morocco face Tanzania in Group F. In their second group game, the World Cup semi-finalists meet DR Congo on 21 January, before concluding the group stage against Zambia three days later. For Adli, who switched allegiance to Morocco in autumn of last year having represented France at youth level, the Africa Cup of Nations is the first major international tournament of his career. For Kossounou and Tapsoba it's their second appearance at AFCON.
The round of 16 kicks off three days after the group stage, from 27 to 30 January. The quarter-finals will be played on 2 and 3 February, with the two semis taking place on 7 February. Following the third-place playoff on 10 February, the final will be held the next day at 21:00 CET.
THE GROUP MATCHES AT A GLANCE (all times CET)
Odilon Kossounou (Ivory Coast/Group A):
13.01, 21:00: Ivory Coast v Guinea-Bissau
18.01, 18:00: Ivory Coast v Nigeria
22.01, 18:00: Ivory Coast v Equatorial Guinea
Edmond Tapsoba (Burkina Faso/Group D):
16.01, 15:00: Burkina Faso v Mauritiana
20.01, 15:00: Algeria v Burkina Faso
23.01, 21:00: Angola v Burkina Faso
Amine Adli (Morocco/Group F):
17.01, 18:00: Morocco v Tanzania
21.01, 15:00: Morocco v DR Congo
24.01, 21:00: Zambia v Morocco
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 personalised 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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Kasper Hjulmand has led the Werkself back to winning ways and is back in the knockout phase of the UEFA Champions League with Bayer 04 after the 3-0 win against Villarreal on Wednesday evening. In an interview with the Werkself magazine at the BayArena in the team meeting room, directly opposite the dressing room, he provided some special insights for the current issue, which was published in January. A conversation with the 53-year-old coach about values, attitudes and personal experiences as well as interests outside of football.
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The thrilling 3-1 win for Bayer 04 against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Hinrunde is a fond memory for Alejandro Grimaldo, with his brace from free kicks, and coach Kasper Hjulmand, who was in the dugout under the Cross for the first time. Now comes the return fixture in the metropolis on the River Main and after going out of the DFB Pokal and the Champions League, the full focus at Eintracht, currently managed by two interim coaches, is now on the Bundesliga. For their part, the Werkself will do everything in their power to continue the longest winning run against a Bundesliga club. The matchday news.
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Bayer 04 have ended Artem Stepanov’s loan deal at Nürnberg and agreed a new loan to Utrecht in the Netherlands. The Ukrainian striker did not play as much as hoped for at the Bundesliga 2 club and will now continue his development in the Eredivisie for the rest of 2025/26.
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The draw for the knockout play-offs of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League was made on Friday, 30 January and saw Bayer 04 paired with Olympiacos. It’s a reunion with the Greek side following the Werkself’s 2-0 loss in Athens on Matchday 7 of the league phase.
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