Kevin Kouassivi-Benissan | |
Birth Date: | 25 January 1999 |
Birth Place: | Tornio, Finland |
Height: | 1.85 m |
Currentclub: | HJK |
Clubnumber: | 27 |
Position: | Right-back |
Youthyears1: | –2016 |
Youthclubs1: | HJK |
Years1: | 2016–2023 |
Clubs1: | Klubi 04 |
Caps1: | 49 |
Goals1: | 11 |
Years2: | 2018– |
Clubs2: | HJK |
Caps2: | 40 |
Goals2: | 0 |
Years3: | 2019 |
Clubs3: | → RoPS (loan) |
Caps3: | 8 |
Goals3: | 1 |
Years4: | 2020 |
Clubs4: | → Inter Turku (loan) |
Caps4: | 19 |
Goals4: | 1 |
Years5: | 2022 |
Clubs5: | → Lahti (loan) |
Caps5: | 23 |
Goals5: | 1 |
Nationalyears1: | 2016 |
Nationalteam1: | Finland U17 |
Nationalcaps1: | 2 |
Nationalgoals1: | 0 |
Nationalyears2: | 2017 |
Nationalteam2: | Finland U19 |
Nationalcaps2: | 1 |
Nationalgoals2: | 0 |
Nationalyears3: | 2019 |
Nationalteam3: | Finland U21 |
Nationalcaps3: | 3 |
Nationalgoals3: | 0 |
Club-Update: | 6 July 2024 |
Nationalteam-Update: | 29 June 2020 |
Kevin Kouassivi-Benissan (born 25 January 1999) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Veikkausliiga club HJK.[1] [2]
Kouassivi-Benissan grew up in Helsinki, and spent his entire junior career with HJK Helsinki. He represented HJK youth in 2016–17 UEFA Youth League.[3] After playing for the club's reserve team Klubi 04 since 2016 in second-tier Ykkönen and third-tier Kakkonen, he made his Veikkausliiga debut with the first team on 14 July 2018, at age 19, against TPS.[4]
On 2 August 2019, Kouassivi-Benissan joined RoPS on loan for the rest of the 2019 season.[5]
On 28 November 2019, it was announced that Kouassivi-Benissan was loaned out to Inter Turku for the 2020 season. He would reunite with former HJK coach José Riveiro.[6]
In the 2021 season, he made only six appearances in the league for HJK, as injuries limited his playing time throughout the season.[4]
On 17 March 2022, Kouassivi-Benissan joined Lahti on loan for the 2022 season.[7] He played in 23 league matches during the season.
After spending three seasons on loan in three different Veikkausliiga teams, Kouassivi-Benissan started the 2023 season in HJK squad. During the season, he made a breakthrough as he recorded five assists in a span of nine league matches.[8] He also made 11 appearances for HJK in the club's 2023–24 European campaign, in which HJK qualified to the UEFA Europa Conference League group stage.[3] On 6 November 2023, Kouassivi-Benissan extended his contract with HJK, signing a new two-year deal until the end of 2025.[9]
Kouassivi-Benissan has represented Finland at youth international levels.
On 24 August 2023, it was reported in Finnish media that Kouassivi-Benissan had considered a possibility to represent Togo at senior international level, after receiving numerous contacts from Togolese Football Federation.[10]
On 30 August 2023, he received his first call-up to the Finland senior national team by head coach Markku Kanerva, for two UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying matches against Kazakhstan and Denmark,[11] [12] but remained an unused substitute.
Kouassivi-Benissan was born in Finland to Finnish mother and Togolese father, and was raised in Pikku Huopalahti. In an interview in the early 2022, Kouassivi-Benissan said he doesn't have a Togolese passport and hasn't visited the country. Besides his native languages Finnish and English, he speaks French. He attended the English school in Meilahti.[13] [14]
Club | Season | League | National cup | Other | Continental | Total | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
Klubi 04 | 2016 | Kakkonen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
2017 | Kakkonen | 20 | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 22 | 3 | ||||
2018 | Ykkönen | 23 | 7 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 27 | 7 | ||||
2019 | Kakkonen | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 1 | ||||
2020 | Kakkonen | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||||
2021 | Ykkönen | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||||
2023 | Kakkonen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
Total | 49 | 11 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 55 | 11 | |||
HJK Helsinki | 2018 | Veikkausliiga | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
2019 | Veikkausliiga | 8 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | 15 | 0 | |||
2020 | Veikkausliiga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||||
2021 | Veikkausliiga | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | 11 | 0 | |||
2022 | Veikkausliiga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
2023 | Veikkausliiga | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 26 | 0 | ||
2024 | Veikkausliiga | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 0 | ||
Total | 40 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 68 | 0 | |||
RoPS (loan) | 2019 | Veikkausliiga | 8 | 1 | — | — | — | 8 | 1 | ||||
Inter Turku (loan) | 2020 | Veikkausliiga | 19 | 1 | 6 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 26 | 1 | ||
Lahti (loan) | 2022 | Veikkausliiga | 23 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 29 | 1 | ||
Career total | 139 | 14 | 24 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 191 | 14 |
2023