Sebastien Uchechukwu Ibeagha (born January 21, 1992) is a professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who plays as a defender 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

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...

. Born in Nigeria, he represented the United States national under-20 team.

Career

Youth, college, and semi-professional

Ibeagha joined the

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Established on December 15, 2005, the club was founded after their fo ...

academy after he and his family moved to

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

from

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

. He was named as the 2009 Dynamo Academy Player of the Year and trained with the Dynamo first team during the summer of 2009. Ibeagha played four years of

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

from 2010 to 2013. He made 70 appearances for the Blue Devils, scoring eight goals and assisting on three others. Ibeagha was twice named first team All- ACC and was named as the 2012 ACC Defensive Player of the Year. He was named to one of the

National Soccer Coaches Association of America The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of United States, American soccer Coach (sport), coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization i ...

All-South Region teams in all of his seasons with Duke. While at Duke, Ibeagha was offered multiple first team contracts by Houston, but he declined them due to his father wanting him to finish school and Ibeagha preferring to try to make a career in Europe. While at college, Ibeagha also appeared for

Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

side

Carolina Dynamo Salem City FC is an American amateur soccer club based in Bermuda Run, North Carolina that fields a men's team in USL League Two, and a women's team as the North Carolina Fusion in the USL W League. The teams plays their home games at the Truis ...

Professional

AC Horsens

After college, Ibeagha forgoed a homegrown contract with the

and instead signed with Danish side

AC Horsens Alliance Club Horsens (), commonly referred to as AC Horsens () or simply Horsens, is a Danish professional football club based in Horsens, Central Denmark Region. Founded in 1994, as a superstructure on Horsens fS (founded 1915), Stensballe ...

. He made his AC Horsens debut on March 15, 2014, in a 5–0 victory over

Vejle Boldklub Vejle Boldklub is a Danish professional football club based in Vejle in Jutland. Formed in 1891, the club is one of the most successful clubs in Danish football history, having won the Danish championship five times and the Danish cup title six ...

in the

Danish Cup The Danish Cup (; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "single-elimination tournament, knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will ...

. Ibeagha would make his league debut for AC Horsens on March 23 in a 0–0 draw with Vejle Boldklub. He started 17 out of a possible 18 games for AC Horsens in his first season with the club. Ibeagha made 2 appearances with AC Horsens in the 2014–15 season before being sent on loan to

FC Fredericia Fodbold Club Fredericia af 1991 (), simply known as FC Fredericia, is a professional association football club based in the town of Fredericia, Denmark, that competes in the Danish 1st Division, the second tier of the Danish football league syste ...

. He made his Fredercia debut on August 10, 2014, in a 2–0 defeat to

Akademisk Boldklub Akademisk Boldklub Gladsaxe (AB) is a Denmark, Danish professional football (soccer), football club from Gladsaxe north of Copenhagen, currently playing at the 3rd highest level of Danish domestic football in the Danish 2nd Division group 1. The ...

. On October 5, Fredericia played Ibeagha's parent club AC Horsens to a 3–3 draw, with Ibeagha scoring an own-goal. Ibeagha scored his first goal on October 26 in a 3–1 defeat to Vejle Boldklub. Ibeagha returned to AC Horsens for the second half of the 2014–15 season, but he didn't feature with the team. He was loaned to Icelandic club

Fram Reykjavik Fram may refer to: Ships * ''Fram'' (ship), an arctic exploration vessel from Norway * MS ''Fram'', expedition cruise ship owned by Hurtigruten Group Places and geography * Fram, Paraguay, a town in Itapúa, Paraguay * Fram Formation, a se ...

for Fram's 2015 season. He made his debut for Fram on May 23, 2015, in a 0–1 loss to

Knattspyrnufélag Fjarðabyggðar Knattspyrnufélag Fjarðabyggðar (, ), abbreviated as KFF, was an Icelandic football club from the town of Fjarðabyggð located on the east coast of Iceland. History The club was founded in 2001 with a merger of three local clubs, ''Íþrótt ...

. Ibeagha scored his first goal for Fram on August 22 in a 2–2 draw with Throttur Reykjavik.

Houston Dynamo

On January 26, 2016, Ibeagha signed with his former youth club

. He struggled to find game time, so Ibeagha was sent to Houston's

USL USL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Underground Sound of Lisbon, a Portuguese dance music project * Urban Strawberry Lunch, a band from Liverpool Companies * United Spirits Limited, India * Former United States Lines shipping company C ...

affiliate club Rio Grande Valley FC. He would make six appearances with the Torros before being loaned to NASL side

Rayo OKC Rayo OKC, also known as Rayo Oklahoma City, was an American professional soccer team based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. They joined the North American Soccer League (NASL) – the second tier of the American soccer pyramid – beginning ...

on July 12, 2016. Ibeagha made his debut for Rayo OKC on July 23 in a 1–0 defeat to

Puerto Rico FC Puerto Rico FC was a professional football club based in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. Founded in 2015, the team played in the North American Soccer League (NASL), the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The team debuted in the 2016 fall seas ...

. He scored his first goal for Rayo OKC on September 10 in a 3–2 win over the Jacksonville Armada. Ibeagha helped Rayo OKC qualify for the 2016 NASL Playoffs. He made zero competitive appearances in his time with Houston.

San Antonio FC

On February 3, 2017, Ibeagha signed with

club

San Antonio FC San Antonio FC is a professional soccer club based in San Antonio, Texas. It competes in the USL Championship, the second-highest level of the United States soccer league system, as a member of the Western Conference. History San Antonio FC ...

. He made his SAFC debut on March 26 in a 1–0 win over Rio Grande Valley FC. He was named to the USL team of the week for Week 1. Ibeagha and San Antonio recorded the second longest shutout streak in USL history between April 28 to June 17 when they went 672 minutes without conceding a goal. Ibeagha helped San Antonio finish second in the Western Conference by anchoring defense that led the league with 15 clean sheets and conceded a league-low 24 goals in 2017. His 190 clearances were the most by any USL player for 2017. Ibeagha was named as the 2017 USL Defender of the Year and was also named to the 2017 USL All-League First Team.

New York City FC

Ibeagha signed with

side

New York City FC New York City Football Club (often referred to as NYCFC) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in New York City. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern C ...

on February 27, 2018, after training with the team during pre-season. He made his MLS debut in NYCFC's first game of the 2018 season, coming on as a sub in a 2–0 win against

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 ...

. Ibeagha got the start in their next game, a 2–1 win over the

LA Galaxy The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

. After only featuring as a sub for three of the next six games, Ibeagha established himself by appearing in 26 league games and starting 18 of them. He helped qualify NYCFC for the 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs, their third straight season qualifying for the postseason. After not appearing in the first five games of the 2019 season, Ibeagha started against the Montreal Impact and helped NYCFC keep a clean sheet and earn a 0–0 draw. He made 23 MLS appearances on the season, 11 being starts, to help NYCFC finish first place in the Eastern Conference and finish with the second-best defensive record in the conference. However, he did not feature in the playoffs.

Los Angeles FC

On August 6, 2021, Ibeagha was acquired by

Los Angeles FC Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Los Angeles. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. It was establi ...

from NYCFC in exchange for $150,000 in General Allocation Money.

FC Dallas

On December 5, 2022, Ibeagha was signed by

three weeks after his contract with Los Angeles FC expired.

International

Ibeagha has represented the United States at the under-20 level.

Personal

Born in Nigeria, Ibeagha and his family moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 2001. Ibeagha attended

Hightower High School Hightower High School is a secondary school (grades 9–12) located at 3333 Hurricane Lane, Missouri City, Texas, Missouri City, Texas, United States, adjacent to Fort Bend Parkway, The Fort Bend Parkway Toll Road. Hightower is administered by ...

Missouri City, Texas Missouri City is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within the metropolitan area. The city is mostly in Fort Bend County, with a small portion in Harris County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 74,259, an increas ...

. He played varsity soccer and football in high school. Ibeagha's brother, Christian Ibeagha, currently plays for the

Oklahoma City Energy Oklahoma City Energy Football Club, or simply Energy FC, is an American professional soccer club based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The club is a member of the USL Championship, the second division of the American soccer league system. Although ...

Career Statistics

Club

Honors

Los Angeles FC *

MLS Cup MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Playoffs. The game is held in November or December and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Confere ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 199 ...

Individual *USL Defender of the Year: 2017 *USL All-League First Team: 2017 * ACC Defensive Player of the Year: 2012 *First Team All-ACC: 2012, 2013 *Second Team All-ACC: 2011 *All-ACC Freshman Team: 2010 *

NSCAA The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than ...

All-American Third Team: 2013 *NSCAA All-South Region First Team: 2012, 2013 *NSCAA All-South Region Second Team: 2011 *NSCAA All-South Region Third Team: 2010 *Dynamo Academy Player of the Year: 2009

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ibeagha, Sebastien 1992 births Living people American expatriate men's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Denmark American expatriate sportspeople in Iceland African-American soccer players American sportspeople of Nigerian descent American men's soccer players Men's association football defenders North Carolina Fusion U23 players Duke Blue Devils men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in Iceland Houston Dynamo FC players Major League Soccer players New York City FC players Los Angeles FC players FC Dallas players Nigerian men's footballers North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players Sportspeople from Missouri City, Texas Rayo OKC players Rio Grande Valley FC Toros players San Antonio FC players Soccer players from Texas USL Championship players United States men's under-20 international soccer players USL League Two players Footballers from Warri 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen