Ayomide Bamidele Akinola (born January 20, 2000) is a professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

club

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BMO ...

. Born in the United States and raised in Canada, he represents the Canada national team.

Early life

Akinola was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, and moved to

Brampton, Ontario Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a lower-tier municipality within Peel Region. The city has a population of 656,480 as of the 2021 Census, making it th ...

in 2005. As a teenager, he played in the

TFC Academy Toronto FC Academy, also known as TFC Academy, is the youth academy and development system of Canadian Major League Soccer club Toronto FC. The academy has divisions from U14 to U19 and includes over 110 young players. The senior academy team is ...

. He graduated from

St. Marguerite d'Youville Secondary School St. Marguerite d'Youville Secondary School (often referred to as d'Youville or abbreviated to d'Y) is a school in the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board (DPCDSB). It is a Catholic high school located in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. Locat ...

in 2018.

Club career

Toronto FC II

Akinola was called up to the

Toronto FC II Toronto FC II is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, who play in MLS Next Pro, a third tier league of the United States soccer league system. It is the reserve team and minor league affiliate of Toronto FC as well as i ...

set-up for the

2016 USL season The 2016 USL season was the sixth season of the United Soccer League and the twenty-second season of USSF sanctioned Division III play organized by the United Soccer Leagues. On August 6, 2015, the league announced that the season would consis ...

. On June 15, 2016, he made his debut as an 80th-minute substitute for

Shaan Hundal Shaan Singh Hundal (born July 14, 1999) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a forward for Vancouver FC in Canadian Premier League. Early life Hundal began playing youth soccer at age six with Caledon SC. He later played with ...

in a 1–1 draw with

FC Montreal FC Montreal was a Canadian professional soccer team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada that played in the USL Championship, the third tier of the United States soccer league system. The team served as a reserve team of Major League Soccer (MLS) cl ...

. Akinola made his first start a week later in a 4–1 defeat to Louisville City. On July 11, he scored a brace in a 4–2 win against the

Harrisburg City Islanders Penn FC (formerly the Harrisburg City Islanders) was an American professional soccer team based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 2003, the team most recently played in the USL Pro, the second tier of the United States soccer ...

and was named to the USL Team of the Week. He finished the season with two goals from 10 appearances. Akinola tried out for

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

club

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, whi ...

in November 2017.

Toronto FC

On December 18, 2017, Akinola signed as a homegrown player with

side

. He became the 15th player to graduate from the TFC Academy and sign for the first team, and the 34th academy graduate to sign a professional contract for one of the Toronto FC teams. On March 17, 2019, Akinola scored his first ever MLS goal in Toronto FC's home opener against the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compet ...

. Akinola scored his second and third MLS goals for Toronto on July 13, 2020, in the

MLS is Back Tournament The MLS is Back Tournament took place during the 2020 Major League Soccer season to mark the league's return to action after being suspended as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the 26 Major League Soccer teams, 24 participated in the tour ...

in a 2–2 draw against

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

. He scored a hat-trick in his team's second game of the tournament against the Montreal Impact. He finished the 2020 season as the co-leading scorer for Toronto with

Alejandro Pozuelo Alejandro Pozuelo Melero (born 20 September 1991) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as attacking midfielder for Major League Soccer club Inter Miami CF. Developed in the Betis system, he amassed La Liga totals of 40 matches and t ...

, both of whom scored 9 goals, although Pozuelo played nearly twice as many minutes. In July 2021, Akinola suffered an

ACL injury An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during inju ...

while on international duty with

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, resulting in him missing the remainder of the 2021 season. In January 2022, Akinola would sign a contract extension with Toronto through the 2024 season, with an option for 2025.

International career

Akinola was eligible to play internationally for the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, and

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, due to birth, residency, and heritage, respectively. While he was playing for the United States youth teams, both the

Canadian Soccer Association The Canadian Soccer Association (Canada Soccer) is the governing body of soccer in Canada. It is a national organization that oversees the Canadian men's and women's national teams for international play, as well as the respective junior sides ( ...

and the

Nigeria Football Federation The Nigeria Football Federation (known as Nigeria Football Association until 2008) is Nigeria's football governing body. It was formally launched in 1945 and formed the first Nigerian national football team in 1949. It joined CAF in 1959 and FIF ...

had reached out to Akinola regarding his future at the senior international level. In 2018, Akinola commented “No time to rush. But at some point, I’m going to have to make a decision which one is the best fit for me.”

United States

In April 2015, Akinola made his international debut for the United States U15 national soccer team, appearing in a 4–1 victory against

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

. The following day he scored his first international goal, netting four in a 6–2 win against

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. He also scored in his final appearances for the U15s in a 3–3 draw in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. In December 2015, Akinola was called up to the United States U17 squad and played 40 minutes in a 3–2 defeat to England U16s. He scored his first goal against Brazil in March 2016, before scoring a brace against Russia a few days later. In October 2017, Akinola scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory over

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

at the FIFA U17 World Cup in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. He was called up to the U.S. senior team for their friendly match on December 9, 2020, against

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

. He scored a goal in his debut for the Americans against El Salvador, taking a knee and raising a fist in the air following his goal in a show of support for the racial equality movement.

Canada

Akinola accepted an invitation to a

training camp held in January 2021, but was forced to withdraw for health reasons. He then accepted an invitation to join the Canadian team for training prior to their World Cup qualifying matches on May 29, 2021. He was named to Canada's 60-man preliminary squad for the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup on June 18, 2021. The

confirmed on June 30 that he had filed his one-time switch to represent Canada internationally, and was named to the final 23-man squad for the Gold Cup on July 1, Akinola made his first appearance for Canada at the tournament in their second group game against

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

on July 15. In his second match for Canada, on July 18, 2021, Akinola faced his former country, the

in the final round of the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concent ...

. Akinola ruptured his ACL in the 24th minute of that match, effectively ruling him out of not only the remainder of the tournament, but also the rest of the club season with

Personal life

Ayo's younger brother Tom is a member of the

and has attended a Canadian under-14 camp.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''As of match played December 9, 2020. Akinola's team's score listed first, score column indicates score after each Akinola goal.''

Honours

Toronto FC *

Canadian Championship The Canadian Championship (french: Championnat canadien) is an annual soccer tournament contested by premier Canadian professional teams. The winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and Canada's berth in the CONCACAF Champions League. It is contest ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

United States U20 *

CONCACAF U-20 Championship The CONCACAF Under-20 Championship is the second longest running international association football event in the North America, Central America and the Caribbean region, CONCACAF, and is the qualification tournament for the FIFA U-20 World Cup. ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Individual *

CONCACAF Under-20 Championship The CONCACAF Under-20 Championship is the second longest running international association football event in the North America, Central America and the Caribbean region, CONCACAF, and is the qualification tournament for the FIFA U-20 World Cup. Th ...

Best XI:

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Akinola, Ayo 2000 births Living people Soccer players from Brampton Soccer players from Detroit Canadian soccer players Canada men's international soccer players American soccer players United States men's international soccer players United States men's youth international soccer players United States men's under-20 international soccer players Canadian sportspeople of Nigerian descent American sportspeople of Nigerian descent American emigrants to Canada Toronto FC players Toronto FC II players Association football forwards USL Championship players African-American soccer players Major League Soccer players Homegrown Players (MLS) 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Dual internationalists (football) 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople