Beginning his career as a defender with ASEC Mimosas, Touré moved to English team Arsenal in 2002, where he made 326 appearances for the club and was a member of the 03–04 'invincibles' side.

Touré also represented the Ivory Coast at seven Africa Cup of Nations tournaments between 2002 and 2015, helping them finish runner-up in 2006 and 2012, while winning in 2015.

Born in Bouaké,[4] Touré joined Premier League team Arsenal from ASEC Mimosas on a long-term contract for a fee of £150,000 on 14 February 2002 after a short trial.

[5][6] Touré made his debut for the first team on 11 August 2002, in the 1–0 win over Liverpool in the FA Community Shield, in which he played the final five minutes as a substitute for Dennis Bergkamp.

Touré inherited his position from veteran Martin Keown, whom he praised as a mentor; Arsenal won the league without losing a game that season.

His only goal of the 2004–05 season came in the 90th minute of Arsenal's UEFA Champions League last 16 round tie against Bayern Munich of Germany.

Both centre-backs helped the Arsenal team reach the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final after keeping 10 consecutive clean sheets (a European competition record).

Touré scored his second European goal on 19 April 2006, the winner in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Villarreal CF.

[11] The following 9 January, he captained the club for the first time in the absence of Gilberto Silva and Thierry Henry, in a 6–3 victory away to Liverpool in the quarter-finals of the League Cup.

His challenge on Mikel John Obi caused a mass brawl which led to both players and Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor being sent off, as well as a £100,000 fine for both London rival clubs.

After he successfully passed a medical in Manchester on 29 July 2009, Touré signed a four-year contract with the club which had the option of extending it to five years.

On 2 July 2010, Kolo Touré was joined by his brother Yaya at Manchester City following a transfer believed to be worth around £24 million.

[27] On 2 February 2014, in a match against West Bromwich Albion he passed straight to opponent Victor Anichebe, who scored an equaliser.

[28] Twelve days later, he scored an own-goal in a match against Fulham, which eventually Liverpool won thanks to a late penalty from skipper Steven Gerrard.

[31][32] Touré scored his first Liverpool goal on 14 February 2016, heading in Jordan Henderson's corner kick to confirm a 6–0 win away to bottom side Aston Villa.

[35] He made his debut on 3 August 2016, coming on as a substitute in the second half of Celtic's 2–1 win over FC Astana in a Champions League qualifier.

He was also called up for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and was the captain in the team's first game against Portugal due to Didier Drogba's injury.

[42] On 9 August 2017, the Ivorian Football Federation appointed Touré as a new member of their coaching staff for the African Nations Championship and under-23 team.