Introducing Loïs Openda

Bondjoû, Loïs! We’ve dug up 17 facts on our new number 17.
 

17 facts on Loïs Openda:

• Loïs’ full name is Ikoma Loïs Openda.
   
• The 23-year-old was born on 14th February 2000 in the Blegian town of Ans near Liege. His mother is of Moroccan descent; his father comes from Congo.
   
• The striker has two siblings: his brother Clever and his sister Shana.
   
• Loïs has a very close relationship with his family, particularly his mother, who is his biggest supporter and was the main reason he signed his first ever professional football contract.
   
• Loïs’s nickname is “Bouzou”.
   
• He has around 125,000 followers on Instagram (@l.openda) and 14,500 on Twitter (@LoisOpenda).
   
• You can also find him on TikTok(@l.openda).
   
• Loïs spent the first year of his life in a Liege hospital due to serious asthmatic problems. Doctors were unsure if he would ever be able to play sports, but his outlook soon improved.
   
• He is the second Belgian to play for RBL after Massimo Bruno (28 games). 
   
• Not only do they share the same nationality, but also the number 17. Loïs Openda becomes the tenth Leipzig player to wear 17, following in the footsteps of Dominik Szoboszlai, Ademola Lookman, Bruma, Dayot Upamecano, Massimo Bruno, Nils Quaschner, Joshua Kimmich, Umut Kocin and Lars Müller.
   
• He wore the unusual number 80 at his first professional team, Club Brugge.
   
• With 21 goals last season, Loïs Openda became the first RC Lens player since Georges Lech in 1966/67 to find the net more than 20 times in a Ligue 1 campaign.
   
• “Bouzou” put in a record-breaking display against Clermont Foot, scoring in the 30th, 34th and 35th minute to claim the fastest hat-trick in Ligue 1 history (3 goals in 5 minutes).
   
• His impressive performances for RC Lens earned him Ligue 1’s Player of the Month award in both March and April 2023.
   
• Having worked under now Belgium head coach Domenico Tedesco, Loïs Openda already had a connection to RBL before his arrival: Tedesco was the club’s head coach from late 2021 to autumn 2022 and won the DFB-Pokal in 2022.
   
• Openda has already won two domestic titles, winning the 2019 Supercup and the 2020 Belgian Pro League title in 2020 with Club Brugge.
   
• He got 12 minutes at the 2022 World Cup, coming on for the final 12 minutes of a 1-0 win over Canada.