Nabilai Absolom Kibunguchy (born January 5, 1998) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who currently plays for

MLS Next Pro MLS Next Pro is a men's professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that is affiliated with Major League Soccer. It launched in 2022 with 21 teams and will expand to 28 in 2023. The league comprises 27 reserve sides for MLS club ...

side

Orlando City B Orlando City B (or OCB for short) is an American soccer club that began play in 2016 and currently plays in MLS Next Pro. Owned by Orlando City SC and based at the Orlando City training facility in Kissimmee, the club plays its home games at Osce ...

. Born in the United States, he plays for the Kenya national team.

Career

Youth

Kibunguchy was part of the

Sacramento Republic Sacramento Republic FC is an American professional soccer team based in Sacramento, California, that plays in the Western Conference of the USL Championship, the second level in US soccer. Co-founded by Warren Smith and Joe Wagoner in 2012, th ...

from 2015 to 2016, where he made 30 appearances and scored a single goal.

College

Kibunguchy played

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

at the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

from 2016 to 2019. During his time with the Aggies, Kibunguchy made 52 appearances, scoring 3 goals and tallying 2 assists. Kibunguchy redshirted his freshman season following a season-ending injury and the

Big West Conference The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacific ...

was cancelled in 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. During his college career, Kibunguchy was named All-Big West Conference First Team, Big West All-Freshman Team and Big West Conference All-Academic Team in 2017, and United Soccer Coaches All-Far West Region Second Team and All-Big West Conference First Team in 2019.

Club

In 2019, Kibunguchy appeared in the

USL League Two USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

with

San Francisco Glens SC San Francisco Glens Soccer Club, commonly known as SF Glens, is an American soccer club based in San Francisco that was founded in 1961. Their men's first team currently competes in USL League Two and women's first team in the USL W League, bot ...

, where he earned a spot on the Western Conference All-Star Team.

Professional

On January 21, 2021, Kibunguchy was selected 18th overall in

2021 MLS SuperDraft The 2021 MLS SuperDraft was the 22nd edition of the SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is held every January prior to the start of the MLS season. The 2020 SuperDraft was the first held exclusively via conference call and ...

Minnesota United Minnesota United FC is an American professional soccer club based in Saint Paul, Minnesota that plays in the Western Conference of Major League Soccer. The club began play in 2017 as the league's 22nd club, and replaced the North American So ...

. He officially signed with the team on April 3, 2021. On May 27, 2021, Kibunguchy moved on loan to

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

side

for the remainder of the 2021 season. Following the 2022 season, his contract option was declined by Minnesota. Kibunguchy subsequently signed with

for the 2023 season.

International career

Born in the United States, both of Kibunguchy's parents are from

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. He is a former youth international for the United States, having played for the United States U19s in 2016. He was called up to the Kenya national team for a set of

2026 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification will be the qualifying process which will decide the teams that will join hosts Canada, Mexico, and the United States at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Qualified countries Notes Qualification process On 9 M ...

matches in November 2023.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kibunguchy, Nabilai 1998 births Living people People from Elk Grove, California Soccer players from California Kenyan men's footballers Kenya men's international footballers American men's soccer players United States men's youth international soccer players American people of Kenyan descent Men's association football defenders Minnesota United FC draft picks Minnesota United FC players Orlando City B players Sacramento Republic FC players San Francisco Glens players UC Davis Aggies men's soccer players USL League Two players USL Championship players MLS Next Pro players Major League Soccer players Minnesota United FC 2 players