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Edmond Tapsoba

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Edmond Tapsoba
Tapsoba with Bayer Leverkusen in 2022
Personal information
Full name Edmond Fayçal Tapsoba[1]
Date of birth (1999-02-02) 2 February 1999 (age 27)
Place of birth Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Height 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)[2]
Position Centre-back
Team information
Current team
Bayer Leverkusen
Number 12
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2015 Salitas
2015–2017 US Ouagadougou
2017–2018 Leixões 0 (0)
2018–2020 Vitória de Guimarães B 30 (7)
2019–2020 Vitória de Guimarães 16 (4)
2020– Bayer Leverkusen 187 (8)
International career
2016– Burkina Faso 66 (4)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 23:31, 29 August 2026 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals as of 23:49, 9 June 2026 (UTC)

Edmond Fayçal Tapsoba (born 2 February 1999) is a Burkinabé professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen and the Burkina Faso national team.

Early and personal life

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Tapsoba grew up in the Karpala section of Ouagadougou where he played football in the streets, but he never played organized football until the age of fourteen. As a child, he would often skip school to play football. He is represented by former Portugal international Deco. Tapsoba can speak some English, as well as French. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Tapsoba donated masks, gloves, and hand sanitiser to a market in Ouagadougou.[3][4]

Club career

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Early career

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Tapsoba played for Salitas, US Ouagadougou, Leixões, Vitória de Guimarães B, and Vitória de Guimarães.[1]

Bayer Leverkusen

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On 31 January 2020, Tapsoba agreed to a five-and-a-half-year contract with Bayer Leverkusen for a fee of €18 million plus €7 million for objectives.[5] On 21 February 2021, he scored his first Bundesliga goal for Bayer Leverkusen in the final seconds of stoppage time in a match against FC Augsburg, equalising for his side and extending Leverkusen's unbeaten streak against Augsburg to twenty matches.[6] Ahead of the 2026–27 season, head coach Carles Martínez Novell named Tapsoba as club's captain, replacing Robert Andrich.[7]

International career

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Tapsoba made his international debut for Burkina Faso in 2016.[1]

In December 2021, he was selected to represent his country at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.[8] Burkina Faso would reach the semi-finals of the tournament and Tapsoba was named in the best eleven along with teammate Blati Touré.[9]

On 20 December 2023, Tapsoba was included in the final 27 man squad for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.[10][11]

Tapsoba also represented Burkina Faso at the 2025 AFCON, scoring his first AFCON goal on 24 December 2025, in his 27th appearance in the competition.[12]

Style of play

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Tapsoba has been compared to Jérôme Boateng for his speed, strength, passing ability, and composure. He is also known for his ability to score goals, especially from the penalty spot.[13] He cites players such as John Stones, Per Mertesacker, and Virgil van Dijk as inspirations.[4][3]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of match played 29 August 2026[14]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Vitória de Guimarães B 2018–19 LigaPro 307307
Vitória de Guimarães 2019–20 Primeira Liga 164104111[c]3328
Bayer Leverkusen 2019–20 Bundesliga 140305[c]0220
2020–21 Bundesliga 311315[c]0392
2021–22 Bundesliga 221106[c]0291
2022–23 Bundesliga 3311013[d]1472
2023–24 Bundesliga 2806112[c]2463
2024–25 Bundesliga 290409[e]01[f]0430
2025–26 Bundesliga 2954010[e]0435
2026–27 Bundesliga 10100020
Total 18882226031027113
Career total 23419232417161031528
  1. Includes Taça de Portugal, DFB-Pokal
  2. Includes Taça da Liga
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. Five appearances in UEFA Champions League, eight appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
  5. 1 2 Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  6. Appearance in DFL-Supercup

International

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As of match played 9 June 2026[1]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Burkina Faso 201610
201720
201800
201950
202040
202170
2022141
202350
2024130
2025103
202650
Total664
Scores and results list Burkina Faso's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Tapsoba goal.[1]
List of international goals scored by Edmond Tapsoba
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
119 November 2022Stade de Marrakech, Marrakech, Morocco Ivory Coast2–12–1Friendly
25 September 2025Estádio 24 de Setembro, Bissau, Guinea-Bissau Djibouti3–06–02026 FIFA World Cup qualification
34–0
424 December 2025Stade Mohammed V, Casablanca, Morocco Equatorial Guinea2–12–12025 Africa Cup of Nations[12]

Honours

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Bayer Leverkusen

Individual

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Edmond Tapsoba". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  2. "Profile". Bayer 04 Leverkusen (in German). Archived from the original on 20 January 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  3. 1 2 Fifield, Raphael Honigstein and Dominic. "Meet Edmond Tapsoba, the Bundesliga's new sensation". The Athletic. Archived from the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  4. 1 2 "Bayer Leverkusen's Edmond Tapsoba: "I never expected to establish myself so quickly"". bundesliga.com – the official Bundesliga website. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  5. "BAYER 04 SIGN CENTRAL DEFENDER TAPSOBA – RETSOS ON LOAN AT SHEFFIELD UNITED". Bayer 04 Leverkusen. 31 January 2020. Archived from the original on 3 October 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  6. "FC Augsburg - Bayer 04 Leverkusen | Season 2020/2021 | Bundesliga". 21 February 2021. Archived from the original on 4 March 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  7. "Mit neuem Kapitän Edmond Tapsoba in die Saison 2026/27" (in German). Bayer 04 Leverkusen. 21 August 2026.
  8. "Cameroun 2021". Facebook. Fédération Burkinabè de Football. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  9. 1 2 @CAF_Online (7 February 2022). "Not your average players Here is the #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 best XI #AFCON2021" (Tweet). Retrieved 7 February 2022 via Twitter.
  10. "#CAN2023 : Vélud dévoile ses 27 commandos" (in French). Burkinabé Football Federation. 20 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023 via Facebook.
  11. Obissa Juste Mien (20 December 2023). "CAN Côte d'Ivoire 2023 : « Je connais les joueurs que j'ai retenus par cœur », déclare Hubert Vélud" (in French). leFaso.net. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  12. 1 2 "Afcon 2025: Burkina Faso 2-1 Equatorial Guinea - Stallions claim late win". BBC Sport.
  13. "Edmond Tapsoba: Who is Bayer Leverkusen's new centre-back that stopped Erling Haaland?". bundesliga.com - the official Bundesliga website. Archived from the original on 27 May 2021. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  14. "Edmond Tapsoba: Summary". Soccerway. Sportsight. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  15. "Bayer Leverkusen are 2023/24 Bundesliga champions!". Bundesliga. 15 April 2024. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  16. "DFB Cup 2023/2024 final 1. FC Kaiserslautern vs Bayer 04 Leverkusen". DFB. 25 May 2024. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  17. "Bayer Leverkusen battle back to beat VfB Stuttgart on penalties in Supercup". Bundesliga. 17 August 2024. Retrieved 17 August 2024.