Ayo Akinola facts for kids
Akinola with the United States U20 in 2019
|
|||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ayomide Bamidele Akinola | ||
| Date of birth | January 20, 2000 | ||
| Place of birth | Detroit, Michigan, United States | ||
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | FC Wil | ||
| Number | 12 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2008–2014 | Brampton East SC | ||
| 2015–2017 | Toronto FC | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2016 | Toronto FC II | 10 | (2) |
| 2018–2024 | Toronto FC | 83 | (15) |
| 2018–2023 | → Toronto FC II (loan) | 25 | (6) |
| 2023 | → San Jose Earthquakes (loan) | 7 | (0) |
| 2024– | FC Wil | 12 | (4) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2015 | United States U15 | 7 | (5) |
| 2015–2017 | United States U17 | 32 | (24) |
| 2018–2019 | United States U20 | 12 | (9) |
| 2020 | United States | 1 | (1) |
| 2021– | Canada | 4 | (0) |
† Appearances (Goals). |
|||
Ayomide Bamidele Akinola, born on January 20, 2000, is a professional soccer player. He plays as a forward, which means he's a goal-scorer, for the Swiss club FC Wil. Even though he was born in the United States, he now plays for the national team of Canada.
Contents
Early Life
Akinola was born in Detroit, Michigan, in the United States. In 2005, when he was five years old, his family moved to Brampton, Ontario in Canada. As a teenager, he trained at the TFC Academy, which is a special school for young soccer players. He finished high school in 2018.
Club Career
Starting with Toronto FC II
Akinola began his professional journey with Toronto FC II in 2016. This team is like a stepping stone for young players to join the main Toronto FC team. He played his first game in June 2016. A week later, he started his first match. On July 11, he scored two goals in one game, which was a big achievement! He ended that season with two goals in 10 games.
Playing for Toronto FC
In December 2017, Akinola joined Major League Soccer team Toronto FC. He was a "homegrown player," meaning he grew up playing in their youth system. He was the 15th player from the TFC Academy to join the main team.
Akinola scored his first goal for Toronto FC in March 2019. In July 2020, he scored two more goals in one game. Later that month, he scored three goals in a single match, which is called a hat-trick! He finished the 2020 season as one of Toronto's top goal-scorers with 9 goals.
In July 2021, while playing for Canada, Akinola got a serious knee injury. This injury, called an ACL tear, meant he couldn't play for the rest of the 2021 season. In 2023, he was loaned to another MLS team, the San Jose Earthquakes, for a short time. In May 2024, he left Toronto FC.
Moving to FC Wil
In July 2024, Akinola moved to Europe. He signed a one-year contract with FC Wil, a soccer club in Switzerland.
International Career
Akinola could choose to play for three different countries: the United States (where he was born), Canada (where he grew up), or Nigeria (because of his family's background). He took his time to decide which country he wanted to represent.
Playing for the United States
Akinola started playing for the United States youth teams in 2015. He played for the U15 team and scored four goals in one game against Croatia! He also played for the U17 team and scored against Brazil and Russia. In 2017, he scored an important goal for the U17 team at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in India.
In December 2020, Akinola played his first game for the main U.S. team. He scored a goal in this game against El Salvador. After scoring, he took a knee and raised his fist to show support for racial equality.
Playing for Canada
In 2021, Akinola decided to switch and play for Canada. This is allowed if a player has not played too many official games for their first country. He joined the Canadian team for training and was picked for the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament.
Akinola played his first game for Canada in July 2021. In his second game for Canada, he played against his former country, the United States. Sadly, during this match, he injured his knee again. This injury kept him out of the rest of the tournament and his club season.
Personal Life
Ayo Akinola has a younger brother named Tom. Tom also plays soccer and was part of the Toronto FC Academy, just like Ayo.
Honours
Toronto FC
- Canadian Championship: 2020
United States U20
- CONCACAF U-20 Championship: 2018
Individual Awards
- CONCACAF Under-20 Championship Best XI: 2018
See Also
In Spanish: Ayo Akinola para niños
