Wilfried Bony

Issia Wazy

Bony began his professional career at Issia Wazy in the Ivorian top flight and ended the 2007 season as top goalscorer.

Sparta Prague

Bony had a two-week trial at Premier League club Liverpool in 2007 but was not offered a contract. In October 2007, Bony joined Czech club Sparta Prague on a loan deal where he immediately started playing for their B team. He won the Bohemian Football League championship with Sparta Prague B. Bony then joined the club on a permanent basis and broke into the first team in the 2008–09 season, scoring 3 goals in 16 appearances. In 2009–10, he scored nine times as Sparta won the Czech First League title. After scoring 17 goals during the first half of the 2010–11 season, including five goals in six appearances in the UEFA Europa League, Bony was signed by Dutch Eredivisie club Vitesse in January 2011 for a £3.4 million transfer fee.

Vitesse Arnhem

Bony signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Vitesse and scored on his debut in a 2–0 derby win over De Graafschap on 20 February 2011. In his first full season with Vitesse, Bony scored 12 goals in the Eredivisie, earning the top goalscoring honours for the club and was tied for tenth-highest scorer in the league. In February 2012, he signed a contract extension which would have kept him at the club until 2015, also ending transfer speculation. Bony made his first appearance of the 2012–13 Eredivisie campaign for Vitesse on 12 August 2012 in a 2–2 draw with…

In late 2010, Bony was called up by Ivory Coast and made his debut in a 1–0 away victory against Burundi, where he came on as a substitute in the 80th minutes for Gervinho.

2012 Africa Cup of Nations

On 30 January 2012, Bony scored the second goal in the Ivory Coast's 2–0 win over Angola in the third game of the group stages of the African Cup of Nations.

2014 FIFA World Cup

Bony was included in the Ivory Coast's 23-man squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. In their first group match, against Japan, he scored the equalising goal with a header after a cross from Serge Aurier. Ivory Coast eventually won 2–1. Against Greece in the final match of the group stages, Bony came on as a substitute in the second half to score the equalising goal before the Ivory Coast lost via an injury time penalty.

2015 Africa Cup of Nations

In a quarter-final 3–1 win over Algeria, Bony scored two headers, one from a Max Gradel cross and the second from a Yaya Touré free-kick. In the final's penalty shoot-out, he took the Ivory Coast's first attempt and hit the crossbar, although his team eventually triumphed.

Wilfried Bony was born in Bingerville and played street football from a young age, later playing at the Maracanã Bingerville football school. He also participated in many interschool and city cups, before spending three years at the Cyril Domoraud Academy in Bingerville.

Bony's father's name is Amedee Shemiz Bony. Wilfried Bony speaks fluent French, English and Czech. Wilfried's son Geoffroy Bony is a professional footballer with EFL League Two club Newport County and his younger son Orphee Bony is a player with Pontardawe Town A.F.C. In August 2026, Bony commented on Yan Diomandé's move to Real Madrid, describing the seven-year contract signed by the 19-year-old Ivorian as the pinnacle of a footballer's career and highlighting the significance of the transfer for his compatriot.