Wilfried Kanon

Wilfried Kanon
Kanon with ADO Den Haag in 2015
Personal information
Full name Serge Wilfried Kanon[1]
Date of birth (1993-07-06) 6 July 1993 (age 31)
Place of birth Taabo, Ivory Coast
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Centre-back
Team information
Current team
 Al-Jahra
Youth career
2010–2012 Empoli
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2013 Gloria Bistrița 25 (0)
2013 Corona Brașov 5 (0)
2013–2019 ADO Den Haag 123 (3)
2019–2022 Pyramids 16 (0)
2021 → Al-Gharafa (loan) 7 (1)
2022 HIFK 8 (0)
2023– Al-Jahra 0 (0)
International career‡
2015– Ivory Coast 53 (3)
Medal record
Representing  Ivory Coast
Men's football
Africa Cup of Nations
Winner 2015 Guinea
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 11:56, 9 February 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:34, 20 January 2022 (UTC)

Serge Wilfried Kanon (born 6 July 1993) is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays mainly as a centre-back for Kuwait Premier League club Al-Jahra and the Ivory Coast national team.

Club career

Early career

Born in Taabo, Ivory Coast, Kanon made his debut for Empoli's junior team in 2010 in the Primavera championship. At the age of 17, he scored for the youth side in a 2–2 draw with Novara.

Gloria Bistrița and Corona Brașov

After impressing during his trial period at Gloria Bistrița in Romania, club coach Nicolae Manea decided to offer Kanon a contract. He made his Liga I debut on 22 July, in a 2–1 defeat against Astra Ploiești in which he played 40 minutes of the game.

In the 2012–13 season, Kanon and several other players followed Manea at Corona Brașov. He featured as a left-back in the campaign opener, a 1–0 defeat to Oțelul Galați at home. Kanon established himself as a regular starter, but missed the sixth fixture due to work permit issues.

ADO Den Haag

Following the work permit issues at Corona Brașov, Kanon was released to sign a two-year contract with Eredivisie team ADO Den Haag. The issues also continued in the Netherlands and prevented him from playing during the first half of the season. On 25 January 2014, he made his debut for the club in the 3–2 home win over Feyenoord.[2]

In July 2015, Kanon was close to signing for Ligue 1 club Lille, which offered a €500,000 fee for his transfer.[3][4] There, he would have been reunited with manager Hervé Renard, who coached him during Ivory Coast's conquest of the Africa Cup of Nations in 2015. Medical examinations which revealed cardiac arrhythmia made the move fall through,[5] and Kanon returned to The Hague to undergo heart surgery.[6]

During the 2016–17 season, he totalled 28 appearances and scored once. His only goal came on the last matchday of the season in a 4–1 win over Excelsior.[7]

Pyramids

Kanon joined Egyptian Premier League side Pyramids on 18 September 2019.[8] On 1 February 2021, he agreed to a six-month loan with Qatar Stars League side Al-Gharafa.[9]

HIFK

On 28 March 2022, Kanon signed with HIFK in Finland.[10]

International career

Kanon plays his first match with Ivory Coast on 11 January 2015 against Nigeria.[citation needed]

Career statistics

Club

As of 16 December 2024.
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup[a] League cup[b] Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Gloria Bistrița 2012–13 Liga I 25 0 – – – 25 0
Corona Brașov 2013–14 Liga I 5 0 – – – 5 0
ADO Den Haag 2013–13 Eredivisie 9 0 – – – 9 0
2014–15 Eredivisie 15 0 1 0 – – 16 0
2015–16 Eredivisie 14 0 0 0 – – 14 0
2016–17 Eredivisie 28 1 2 0 – – 30 1
2017–18 Eredivisie 25 1 1 0 – – 26 1
2018–19 Eredivisie 30 1 1 0 – – 31 1
2019–20 Eredivisie 4 0 0 0 – – 4 0
Total 125 3 5 0 0 0 0 0 130 3
Pyramids 2019–20 Egyptian Premier League 16 0 2 0 – 4[c] 1 22 1
Al-Gharafa (loan) 2020–21 Qatar Stars League 7 1 1 0 2 0 – 10 1
HIFK 2022 Veikkausliiga 8 0 3 0 0 0 – 11 0
Al-Jahra 2023–24 Kuwait Premier League – –
Career total 186 4 11 0 2 0 4 1 203 5
  1. ^ Includes KNVB Beker, Egypt Cup, Amir Cup and Suomen Cup
  2. ^ Includes Qatar Cup, Qatari Stars Cup and Finnish League Cup
  3. ^ Appearances in CAF Confederation Cup

International

As of match played 20 January 2022[11]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Ivory Coast
2015 8 1
2016 7 0
2017 13 0
2018 6 0
2019 14 1
2020 1 0
2021 3 1
2022 1 0
Total 53 3
Scores and results list Ivory Coast's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kanon goal.
List of international goals scored by Wilfried Kanon[11]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 4 February 2015 Estadio de Bata, Bata, Equatorial Guinea  DR Congo 3–1 3–1 2015 Africa Cup of Nations
2 13 October 2019 Stade de la Licorne, Amiens, France  DR Congo 1–0 3–1 Friendly
3 26 March 2021 Stade Général Seyni Kountché, Niamey, Niger  Niger 3–0 3–0 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Honours

Ivory Coast[12]

References

  1. ^ "Cote d'Ivoire" (PDF). Confederation of African Football. 15 June 2019. p. 7. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  2. ^ "Wilfried Kanon blijft bij ADO Den Haag!". ADO Den Haag (in Dutch). 16 August 2017. De 24-jarige Kanon kwam in 2013 over van het Roemeense Corona Brasov, maar maakte begin 2014 pas zijn debuut in een wedstrijd tegen Feyenoord.
  3. ^ "Wilfred Kanon arrive au LOSC". www.losc.fr (in French). Lille OSC. 1 July 2015.
  4. ^ "Voormalig Ivoorkust-bondscoach haalt Kanon naar Lille". Voetbal International (in Dutch). 1 July 2015.
  5. ^ "Lille durft het na extra onderzoeken niet aan met Kanon". Voetbal International (in Dutch). 9 July 2015.
  6. ^ "'Kanon hoort bij de meest onderschatte spelers in de eredivisie'". nos.nl (in Dutch). 4 June 2017.
  7. ^ "Smaakmakers ADO zorgen voor passend slot". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). 14 May 2017.
  8. ^ "Ivory Coast international joins Pyramids FC". kingfut.com. 18 September 2019. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  9. ^ "Ivory Coast international joins Al-Gharafa SC". kingfut.com. 1 February 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  10. ^ "HIFK:n uusi pelaajakiinnitys on Norsunluurannikon maajoukkuetoppari Wilfried Kanon" (Press release) (in Finnish). HIFK. 28 March 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  11. ^ a b Wilfried Kanon at National-Football-Teams.com
  12. ^ Wilfried Kanon at Soccerway. Retrieved 13 October 2021.