Dániel Sallói (; born 19 July 1996) is a Hungarian 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 lea ...

who plays as a striker or winger for

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

club

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The ad ...

and the Hungary national team.

Club career

Youth

Sallói worked his way through the youth ranks of

Nemzeti Bajnokság I The Nemzeti Bajnokság (, ), also known as NB I or Fizz Liga after its title sponsor, OTP Bank's webshop subsidiary, is a professional association football league in Hungary and the highest level of the Hungarian football league system. Twelve ...

club

Újpest FC Újpest Football Club () is a Hungary, Hungarian professional association football, football club based in Újpest, Budapest, that competes in Nemzeti Bajnokság I. Formed in 1885, Újpest reached the first division of the Hungarian League in ...

in his home town of

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, Hungary beginning in 2005. He was a member of the U16, U17, and U21 sides between 2011 and 2014. He was named the U16 and U17 academy Player of the Year during his one season with each team. For the 2013/14 season, the U21 team claimed second place in Hungary's U21 championship with Sallói as a member. In 2014, he traveled to the United States as a

foreign exchange student A student exchange program is a program in which students from a secondary school (high school) or higher education study abroad at one of their institution's partner institutions. A student exchange program may involve international travel, bu ...

and attended Blue Valley Northwest High School in

Overland Park, Kansas Overland Park ( ) is the largest city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States, and the List of cities in Kansas#Highest population listing, second-most populous city in the state of Kansas. It is one of four principal city, principal cities in ...

. At that time he joined the U18 academy of

coached by fellow Hungarian and friend of his father

István Urbányi István Urbányi (born 17 April 1967) is a Hungarian former football player and coach. He is currently the head coach for Sporting Kansas City II in MLS Next Pro. Career Urbányi was born in Salgótarján. As a player, he spent most of his car ...

. During the 2014/15 academy season, he scored a team-high 21 goals in 28 appearances, including three

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

Professional

In July 2015, Sallói returned to his former club by signing for the first team of

, although on an amateur contract. He made his professional debut on 18 July 2015, a day before his 19th birthday. He scored his first professional league goal exactly one week later in a 3–1 victory over

Vasas SC Vasas SC () is a Hungarian sports club based in Budapest. Members of the ''Hungarian Union of Iron Workers'' founded the club as ''Vas- és Fémmunkások Sport Clubja'', the "Sport Club of Iron and Metal Workers", on 16 March 1911. The club ...

. He also made four appearances for the club in the

Magyar Kupa The Hungarian Cup (, ), officially known as MOL Magyar Kupa for sponsorship reasons, is the Hungarian cup competition for football clubs. It was started by the Hungarian Football Association'','' in 1909, eight years after the commencement of ...

, scoring six goals in the competition. In total, he scored seven goals and four assists in sixteen matches in all competitions. In league play, he scored one goal in twelve appearances. On 13 January 2016, it was announced that Sallói had returned to

, signing a professional, first-team contract and becoming the club's fourth all-time homegrown player. He was eligible to be a HGP because of his residence in the area and because he had played for the club's academy team. Prior to the

2016 Major League Soccer season The 2016 Major League Soccer season featured 20 total clubs (17 based in the United States, 3 based in Canada). The regular season began on March 6 and ended on October 23. The playoffs began on October 26 and ended on December 10. The defendin ...

, Sallói was loaned to Sporting's reserve side,

Swope Park Rangers Sporting Kansas City II is a MLS Next Pro club affiliated with Sporting Kansas City of Major League Soccer. For the 2022 season they will play their home games at Kansas Jayhawks, Rock Chalk Park at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, ...

. In total, he scored four goals in ten league appearances during the loan. In June 2016, it was announced that he would return to Hungary for a year-long loan at Vasas. However after only the first match of the season, the loan was switched to newly promoted Gyirmót who was coached by

, Sallói's former coach at the Sporting Kansas City Academy. After appearing with the reserve team in 2016, Sallói was a rotational piece in Sporting's front line in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, starting 12 and appearing in 22 regular season MLS matches, mostly as a winger. Sallói scored three goals and assisted two in league play. Sallói was also a heavy contributor in Sporting's 2017 Open Cup championship run, scoring the winning goal in the 2017 Open Cup final against the

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conferenc ...

off a through ball from midfielder

Benny Feilhaber Benny Feilhaber (; born January 19, 1985) is an American soccer coach for the Oakland Roots and a former professional player. A midfielder, Feilhaber played for clubs in Germany, Denmark, England, and the United States. Born in Brazil but raise ...

. Sallói became the starting left winger for Sporting through the 2018 season, helping KC finish atop the Western Conference. Sallói scored 11 goals and assisted 7 times in regular season play, with an additional three goals in the 2018 MLS Playoffs. Through 2019 and 2020, Sallói entered a scoring slump, scoring one goal in 35 league appearances through both seasons. Sallói rebounded in

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, helping Sporting reach 3rd place in the West. Sallói finished with 16 goals and 8 assists and was named a finalist for the Landon Donovan MLS MVP Award.

International career

Sallói was a member of Hungary's national U18 side from 2013–2014. He was a member of the U18 squad for the Václav Ježek Tournament in 2013 and debuted for the U18 team during the tournament during a 1–0 victory over

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. The team won the bronze medal in the tournament after beating the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

5–4 on penalties in the 3rd place match in which Sallói came on as a 46th-minute substitute. On 16 March 2014, he appeared in a friendly draw against

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

as part of the team's preparation for the

2014 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2014 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was the 13th edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship since its reclassification from an under-18 event in 2002, and the 63rd since the tournament was created in 1948. Hungary was chosen to ho ...

. However, he was not named to the squad for the tournament because of travel restrictions on his

visa Visa most commonly refers to: * Travel visa, a document that allows entry to a foreign country * Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Vi ...

while he lived in the United States. He has also trained with the national U21 team. He made his debut for the

Hungary national football team The Hungary national football team (, ) represents Hungary in men's international Association football, football, and is controlled by the Hungarian Football Federation. The team has made nine appearances in the FIFA World Cup, and five in the ...

on 2 September 2021 in a World Cup qualifier against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, a 0–4 home loss. He substituted

Roland Sallai Roland Sallai (born 22 May 1997) is a Hungarian professional footballer who plays as a right winger for Süper Lig club Galatasaray and the Hungary national team. Club career Puskás Akadémia Sallai started his professional career at Pusk� ...

in the 66th minute.

Personal life

Sallói was born in

Siófok Siófok (; ; ) is a town in Somogy County, Hungary on the southern bank of Lake Balaton. It is the Somogy County#Municipalities, second largest municipality in Somogy County and the seat of Siófok District. It covers an area of about between Lak ...

, Hungary and was raised in Budapest. He is the son of former professional footballer and Hungarian international and current sporting director

István Sallói István Sallói (born 26 September 1966 in Oroszlány) is a former Hungarian football player. Sallói came from a footballing family with his grandfather playing in lower divisions before later becoming a referee. His father played in the Hungar ...

. His father István had been a teammate of Sporting Kansas City manager

Peter Vermes Peter Joseph Vermes (; born November 21, 1966) is an American professional soccer coach and former player. From 2009 to 2025, he was the manager of Sporting Kansas City in Major League Soccer. Entering the 2025 MLS season, Vermes was the lon ...

Győri ETO FC ETO FC Győr (''Egyetértés Torna Osztály Futball Club Győr''; ''Concordance Gymnastics Department Football Club of Győr'') or just ETO is a Hungarian professional football club from the city of Győr. They are best known for reaching the se ...

. In April 2019, Sallói earned a U.S. green card which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.

Career statistics

Honours

Individual *

MLS All-Star The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is an annual Association football, soccer game held by Major League Soccer featuring selected players from the league against an international club or selected players from another league. MLS initially ado ...

Golden Boot: 2018, 2021 Sporting Kansas City *

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Runner Up * Western Conference (regular season):

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2020 The year 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 even ...

References

External links

* *
USSDA profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salloi, Daniel 1996 births Living people Men's association football forwards Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Gyirmót FC Győr players Homegrown Players (MLS) Hungarian expatriate men's footballers Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Hungarian men's footballers Hungary men's youth international footballers Hungary men's under-21 international footballers Hungary men's international footballers Major League Soccer players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Sporting Kansas City players Footballers from Budapest Sporting Kansas City II players Újpest FC players USL Championship players Vasas SC players 21st-century Hungarian sportsmen Designated Players (MLS)