Kei Kamara

Kei Ansu Kamara (; born 1 September 1984) is a Sierra Leonean professional footballer who plays as a striker for FC Cincinnati. He is one of 13 players to have scored 100 goals in MLS history, achieving the landmark in 300 appearances. He is currently second on MLS's all-time scoring list, scoring for 11 different MLS clubs.

Early life and education

Kamara was born and raised in Kenema, Sierra Leone's third-largest city. He began playing football as a child, initially as a form of escapism from the Sierra Leone Civil War, in which he witnessed executions in his home city of Kenema, infiltrated early by rebels. At age 16, Kamara and his family migrated to the United States through a refugee program, initially moving to Maryland, before settling with relatives in Hawthorne, California, near Los Angeles. At one point, he hid in the jungle and even spent two years in a refugee camp in the Gambia. He became an American citizen in 2006. He began his career playing for Kallon F.C. from 2001 to 2003.

Kamara played college soccer at California State University, Dominguez Hills, where, in his second year, he was named third-team All-American. Kamara also spent two seasons with Orange County Blue Star in the USL Premier Development League.

Club career

2006–2009: Early MLS career

Kamara was chosen by Columbus Crew in the first round, ninth overall, at the 2006 MLS SuperDraft. He spent two seasons there, making 36 appearances and scoring five goals.

Prior to the 2008 season, he was traded to San Jose Earthquakes in exchange for Brian Carroll. However, he spent only the 2008 season there, making 12 appearances and scoring two goals.

On 24 July 2008, Kamara was traded to Houston Dynamo for a first-round pick in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft and allocation money. On 30 September 2008, Kamara scored two goals for MLS champion Houston Dynamo against Mexican club UNAM Pumas in a CONCACAF Champions League match.

Sporting Kansas City

On 15 September 2009, Kamara was traded to Sporting Kansas City for Abe Thompson and allocation money. Kamara had several productive seasons with Kansas City which saw him become one of the most imposing wingers in the league.

Loan to Norwich City

Kamara was a transfer target of Norwich City of the English Premier League during the winter 2013 transfer window, following an unsuccessful trial at Stoke City earlier in the off-season. It was announced on 30 January 2013 that Kamara was signed on loan by Norwich for the remainder of the 2012–13 Premier League season. Norwich had the option for a pre-negotiated permanent transfer or to return Kamara to Sporting at the end of the season, in which case Kamara would miss the first 10 matches of the MLS season. As part of the deal, Kamara's contract with Major League Soccer was extended. Norwich City announced on 5 February that Kamara was granted a visa, making him legally eligible to play for the club. He made his league debut for Norwich as an 86th-minute substitute in a 0–0 draw with Fulham four days later. On the next matchday, 23 February, he came on as a 58th-minute substitute, and 19 minutes later, scored his first goal for Norwich, equalising 1–1 against Everton with a powerful header at Carrow Road, in an eventual 2–1 victory. Kamara assisted team-mate Wes Hoolahan in the 1–1 draw against Sunderland on 17 March, as his header past the goalkeeper was deflected into the net by Hoolahan who was standing on the goal-line.

Kamara did not score any more in a Norwich shirt and Norwich declined the option of taking him on a permanent transfer. On 4 May 2013, Norwich City confirmed the loan deal had ended and he would be returning to Sporting Kansas City immediately.

Middlesbrough

On 2 September 2013, it was confirmed that Kamara had signed for Middlesbrough of the Championship on a two-year contract for a fee of £900,000. He made his debut for the club twelve days later, coming on as a 63rd-minute substitute in a 1–3 loss to Ipswich Town. On 17 September, Kamara made his first start and scored his first goal for Boro in a 2–2 draw at Nottingham Forest. He followed up his first goal against Forest by scoring on his home debut, a 3–3 draw against AFC Bournemouth four days later. He then scored on 5 October in a 4–1 win at home to Yeovil Town, and twenty days later in a 4–0 home win at over Doncaster Rovers. On 28 August 2014, it was announced that Middlesbrough had parted company with Kamara as his contract had been cancelled by mutual consent.

After parting ways with Middlesbrough, Kamara had a successful trial with recently promoted Championship side Wolverhampton Wanderers. However, his work permit renewal application was declined after Sierra Leone fell to 75th place in the FIFA World Rankings and Wolverhampton shifted its focus to signing Yannick Sagbo instead.

Return to Columbus

In late August 2014, it was revealed that Kamara could return to MLS but would have to go through the league's allocation ranking system since Kansas City received a transfer fee for the player. At the time, the No. 1 spot in the allocation ranking was held by Columbus Crew SC, the club which initially drafted Kamara in 2006. On 7 October 2014 it was confirmed that Kamara had signed for Columbus and would officially be added to the roster 1 January 2015. Because he was released by Middlesbrough after the 2014 MLS roster freeze, he would not be able to appear for the Crew until the 2015 Major League Soccer season.

The following season, he helped the Crew to the play-offs by finishing second in the Eastern Conference, and finished the 2015 MLS season as the joint top-scorer of the league, alongside Toronto FC's Sebastian Giovinco, with 22 goals in 33 games, although Giovinco claimed the MLS Golden Boot due to having provided more assists throughout the season (16 compared to Kamara's 8), which was the tie-breaking criterion. In November 2015, he was named one of the three finalists for both the 2015 MLS Landon Donovan MVP Award and the 2015 Advocare MLS WORKS Humanitarian of the Year Award; he was awarded the MLS Humanitarian of the Year Award on 5 November, although he missed out on the MVP Award, which went to Giovinco. On 8 November, he scored two goals in a 3–1 win over Montreal Impact in the Eastern Conference semi-finals of the MLS Playoffs, including the decisive goal in extra-time, which allowed Columbus Crew to advance to the Eastern Conference finals. On 22 November, he scored in the first leg of the 2015 MLS Playoff Eastern Conference Finals, a 2–0 win over the New York Red Bulls, which allowed Columbus to claim the 2015 Eastern Conference Championship 2–1 on aggregate and advance to the MLS Cup Final. Due to an injury sustained in training, however, it was initially uncertain whether Kamara would be able to feature in the 2015 MLS Cup Final against the Portland Timbers; nevertheless, he played all 90 minutes of the match, scoring the only goal for Columbus in a 2–1 defeat. With 4 goals, Kamara was the top-goalscorer in the 2015 MLS Playoffs, bringing his total seasonal tally to 26 goals although he missed out on the MLS Cup MVP Award, which went to Portland's Diego Valeri.

After being signed to a Designated Player contract, Columbus got off to a rough start in the 2016 season. Kamara scored five goals in his first nine games including a brace against Montreal on 7 May 2016 where Columbus had the lead. An argument arose between Federico Higuaín and Kamara over a penalty kick, with Kei potentially getting his first hat trick in his career; however, Higuaín wanted to take it himself. The game ended in a 4–4 draw. After the game, Kamara publicly called Higuaín out in an interview after the game. As a result, he was suspended by manager Gregg Berhalter for the next game.

New England Revolution

On 12 May 2016, just five days after the penalty kick incident with Higuaín, Kamara was traded to New England Revolution in a blockbuster deal which saw Columbus receive a first-round pick in the 2017 MLS SuperDraft, a second-round pick in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft, an international roster slot for the 2016 season, general allocation money, targeted allocation money, and a percentage of any fee received should New England transfer Kamara to a club outside of MLS.

Kamara made his Revolution debut, and first start for his new club, on 14 May 2016, in a 2-0 victory over the Chicago Fire.

He scored his first goal for New England in a 2–1 win over the New York Cosmos in the 2016 U.S. Open Cup round of 16 on 29 June. He scored his first goal for the club in MLS play on 2 July, part of a brace in a 3-2 loss to the Montreal Impact. His first goal in the match was the 80th of his career, making him only the 16th player in MLS history to record 80 goals. His second goal of the match brought his MLS career total to 81, moving him above Brian McBride and Josh Wolff to 14th in career goals in MLS history. Kamara concluded the 2016 season with 12 goals, tied for 11th in the league.

On 2 September 2017, Kamara scored his first MLS hat trick against Orlando City in a 4–0 win. His first goal in the match was the 100th of his career, making him only the 12th player in MLS history to record 100 goals. He was named MLS Player of the Week for week 26. Kamara led the Revolution in scoring in the 2017 season, winning the club's golden boot with 12 goals and 5 assists, tied for 19th in the league in scoring.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC

On 10 December 2017, Kamara was traded by New England to Vancouver Whitecaps FC in exchange for a first-round selection in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft and a conditional second-round selection in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft. He scored on his debut on 4 March against Montreal Impact in a 2–1 win. Kamara left Vancouver at the end of their 2018 season when his contract expired.

Colorado Rapids

On 11 December 2018, Kamara was selected by FC Cincinnati in the 2018 MLS Expansion Draft and immediately traded to Colorado Rapids in exchange for an international roster slot for the 2019 season.

He scored the second hat-trick of his professional career, and the ninth overall hat-trick in franchise history for the Colorado Rapids, in a 6–3 win over Montreal Impact on 3 August 2019. The tally meant he reached 11 league goals for the season, the most for the Rapids since Omar Cummings in 2010.

Minnesota United

On 18 September 2020, Colorado traded Kamara to Minnesota United for allocation money and a 2022 second round MLS SuperDraft pick. He scored a penalty kick against FC Cincinnati on 3 October 2020, becoming the first MLS player to score for eight different teams; no one else has scored for more than six.

HIFK Fotboll

On 30 July 2021, Kamara signed with HIFK Fotboll in Finland through the end of the 2021 season, with an option for the 2022 season.

CF Montréal

In February 2022, Kamara returned to North America, joining CF Montréal on a one-year deal, with an option for 2023. He made his debut for his new club on 23 February against Santos Laguna of Liga MX in a 2022 CONCACAF Champions League match. On 2 April, Kamara scored his first goal for the club against FC Cincinnati, becoming the first MLS player to score for nine different teams, and also added a further two assists to help his side to a 4–3 win. On 20 August, Kamara scored his 135th MLS goal in a 4–0 win over New England Revolution, thus overtaking Jeff Cunningham as the third-highest scorer in MLS history; this was also his 11th career goal against the Revolution, becoming the club against which he has scored the most career goals. On 13 September, he scored a first-half brace against Chicago Fire, becoming his biggest victim (12 goals).

Chicago Fire

Kamara was traded to the Chicago Fire prior to the 2023 season. He was unhappy with CF Montreal's contract offer and had previously requested a trade. On 25 March, in his third appearance with the team, Kamara scored a late goal against Inter Miami to seal a 3–2 win, thus becoming the first player to score for 10 clubs in the MLS as well as the first player in MLS history to score in 16 different seasons. On 8 April, he scored a first-half brace against his former team Minnesota United FC to help his side to a 2–1 win, thus ending the Loon's 5-match unbeaten start. On 27 July, he scored another late winner from the bench, this time in his Leagues Cup debut against Minnesota United.

Los Angeles FC

On 29 March 2024, Kamara signed with Los Angeles FC for the 2024 season with a club option for 2025. In doing so, he became the oldest active player in the U.S. top flight, being only eight days older than Brad Guzan. On 8 May, Kamara scored his first goal for the club in a 3–1 win over Las Vegas Lights in the fourth round of the 2024 U.S. Open Cup, making him the only player to have scored for 11 different MLS teams during his career in the United States. On 19 June, Kamara scored his first MLS goal for the club to salvage a 1–1 draw with Austin FC. This was also his 145th MLS goal, tying with Landon Donovan for the second-most goals in MLS history. In the following match on 22 June, he scored his 146th MLS goal against San Jose Earthquakes to pass Donovan as the second-highest goalscorer in league history, only behind Chris Wondolowski (171). On 4 July, he opened the scoring against La Galaxy in an eventual 2–1 win at the Rose Bowl, and in doing so at the age of 39 years and 10 months, he became the oldest scorer in El Tráfico history.

Despite his advanced age, Kamara was one of the top scorers of the 2024 Leagues Cup with three goals, including one in both the quarterfinals and the semifinals. Thus, he contributed decisively to helping Los Angeles reach the Leagues Cup Final for the first time in its history, which they lost 3–1 to Columbus Crew. On 25 September, Kamara came off the bench in the 2024 U.S. Open Cup final against his former club Sporting Kansas City, for whom he had won his only Open Cup title in 2012. He scored a header in extra-time to seal a 3–1 win, and in doing so at the age of 40 years and 24 days, he became both the oldest player and the oldest scorer in an Open Cup final since the inception of MLS in 1996.

FC Cincinnati

On 12 May 2025, FC Cincinnati announced Kamara's signing as a free agent to a contract through the 2025 season, with an option for it to be extended for another season. On 14 May, he made his first appearance for the club, coming on as a substitute against Toronto FC.

International career

An international since 2008, Kamara was dropped from the national team set-up for "disciplinary reasons" in August 2019. He was recalled later that month. He retired from international duty in November 2019, blaming in part new manager Sellas Tetteh. Tetteh defended himself. Kamara later returned to the national team set-up and on 12 June 2021 Kamara scored the only goal for Sierra Leone in a victory against Benin which qualified Sierra Leone for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, their first since 1996.

On 21 April 2022, Kamara once again announced his retirement from international football. He came out of retirement for a second time in November 2024 at the age of 40 to play against Chad in Sierra Leone's penultimate 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification game.

Personal life

Kamara earned his U.S. citizenship in 2006. He is married and has three children.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Sierra Leone's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kamara goal''.

Honours

Sporting Kansas City
* Eastern Conference (Regular Season): 2011, 2012
* U.S. Open Cup: 2012

Columbus Crew
* Eastern Conference (Playoffs): 2015

Los Angeles FC
*U.S. Open Cup: 2024

Individual
* MLS Fair Play Award: 2007
*Sierra Leonean Player of the Year: 2012
*MLS Joint Top-scorer: 2015 (22 goals, alongside Sebastian Giovinco)
* MLS All-Star: 2015, 2023
* MLS Works Humanitarian of the Year: 2015
* MLS Best XI: 2015
* MLS Cup Playoffs Top-scorer: 2015
* MLS 100 goals club
* MLS 400 Games Club

References

External links

*
Kei Kamara website
*
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kamara, Kei
Living people
1984 births
Sierra Leonean men's footballers
People from Kenema
Sierra Leonean emigrants to the United States
Men's association football forwards
Cal State Dominguez Hills Toros men's soccer players
Orange County Blue Star players
Columbus Crew draft picks
Columbus Crew players
San Jose Earthquakes players
Houston Dynamo FC players
Sporting Kansas City players
Norwich City F.C. players
Middlesbrough F.C. players
New England Revolution players
Vancouver Whitecaps FC players
Colorado Rapids players
Minnesota United FC players
CF Montréal players
Chicago Fire FC players
Los Angeles FC players
FC Cincinnati players
USL League Two players
Major League Soccer players
Premier League players
English Football League players
Sierra Leone men's international footballers
Major League Soccer All-Stars
Designated Players (MLS)
Sierra Leonean expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States
Sierra Leonean expatriate sportspeople in the United States
Expatriate men's footballers in England
Sierra Leonean expatriate sportspeople in England
Expatriate men's footballers in Finland
Sierra Leonean expatriate sportspeople in Finland
2021 Africa Cup of Nations players
Sierra Leonean expatriate sportspeople in Canada
Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada
Naturalized citizens of the United States
Naturalised association football players
Soccer players from Los Angeles County, California
American expatriate sportspeople in England
American expatriate sportspeople in Canada
American expatriate sportspeople in Finland
American expatriate men's soccer players
Sportspeople from Hawthorne, California