Kevin Kouassivi-Benissan

Kevin Kouassivi-Benissan (born 25 January 1999) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Slovak First League club Košice, on loan from HJK.^[1][2]

Kevin Kouassivi-Benissan

Personal information
Date of birth	(1999-01-25) 25 January 1999 (age 26)
Place of birth	Tornio, Finland
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Right-back
Team information
Current team	Košice (on loan from HJK)
Youth career
0000–2016	HJK
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2016–2023	Klubi 04	49	(11)
2018–	HJK	44	(0)
2019	→ RoPS (loan)	8	(1)
2020	→ Inter Turku (loan)	19	(1)
2022	→ Lahti (loan)	23	(1)
2025–	→ Košice (loan)	10	(0)
International career‡
2016	Finland U17	2	(0)
2017	Finland U19	1	(0)
2019	Finland U21	3	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 27 April 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 29 June 2020

Club career

HJK Helsinki

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]

Loans to Inter Turku, RoPS and Lahti

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, scoring one goal.

Return to HJK

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]

Loan to Košice

On 21 January 2025, Kouassivi-Benissan was loaned out to Slovak First League club Košice for the remainder of the season.^[10][11]

International career

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.^[12]

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,^[13][14] but remained an unused substitute.

Personal life

Kouassivi-Benissan was born in Finland to Finnish mother and Togolese father, and was raised in Pikku Huopalahti, Helsinki. 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.^[15][16]

Career statistics

As of 27 April 2025^[17]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup[a]		League cup		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[b]	0	2	0
	2019	Veikkausliiga	8	0	5	0	—		2[b]	0	15	0
	2020	Veikkausliiga	0	0	0	0	—		—		2	0
	2021	Veikkausliiga	6	0	1	0	—		4[c]	0	11	0
	2022	Veikkausliiga	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	0
	2023	Veikkausliiga	11	0	0	0	4	0	11[c]	0	26	0
	2024	Veikkausliiga	17	0	0	0	3	0	3[d]	0	23	0
	Total		44	0	6	0	9	0	20	0	74	0
RoPS (loan)	2019	Veikkausliiga	8	1	—		—		—		8	1
Inter Turku (loan)	2020	Veikkausliiga	19	1	6	0	—		1[e]	0	26	1
Lahti (loan)	2022	Veikkausliiga	23	1	6	0	0	0	—		29	1
Košice (loan)	2024–25	Slovak First League	10	0	1	0	–		–		11	0
Career total			153	14	25	0	9	0	21	0	208	14

1. Includes Suomen Cup and Slovak Cup
2. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
3. Includes UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League
4. Appearances in UEFA Champions League and UEFA Conference League
5. Includes UEFA Europa League

Honours

HJK

• Veikkausliiga: 2018, 2021, 2023
• Finnish League Cup: 2023