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Ayo Akinola

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Ayo Akinola
Akinola with the United States U20 in 2019
Personal information
Full name Ayomide Bamidele Akinola[1]
Birth name Grant Jesus-Sultan-Akinola Ogundimu[2]
Date of birth (2000-01-20) January 20, 2000 (age 24)
Place of birth Detroit, Michigan, United States
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[3]
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 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 9 (3)
International career‡
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)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of November 1, 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of March 28, 2023

Ayomide Bamidele Akinola (born January 20, 2000) is a professional soccer player who plays as a forward for Swiss Challenge League club FC Wil. Born in the United States, he has represented the Canada national team.

Early life

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Akinola was born in Detroit, Michigan, and moved to Brampton, Ontario in 2005.[4] As a teenager, he played in the TFC Academy.[5] He graduated from St. Marguerite d'Youville Secondary School in 2018.[6]

Club career

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Toronto FC II

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Akinola was called up to the Toronto FC II set-up for the 2016 USL season.[5] On June 15, 2016, he made his debut as an 80th-minute substitute for Shaan Hundal in a 1–1 draw with FC Montreal. Akinola made his first start a week later in a 4–1 defeat to Louisville City.[7] On July 11, he scored a brace in a 4–2 win against the Harrisburg City Islanders and was named to the USL Team of the Week.[8] He finished the season with two goals from 10 appearances.

Akinola tried out for Eredivisie club PSV Eindhoven in November 2017.[9]

Toronto FC

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On December 18, 2017, Akinola signed as a homegrown player with Major League Soccer side Toronto FC.[10] 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.[11] On March 17, 2019, Akinola scored his first ever MLS goal in Toronto FC's home opener against the New England Revolution.[12]

Akinola scored his second and third MLS goals for Toronto on July 13, 2020, in the MLS is Back Tournament in a 2–2 draw against D.C. United.[13] He scored a hat-trick in his team's second game of the tournament against the Montreal Impact.[14] He finished the 2020 season as the co-leading scorer for Toronto with Alejandro Pozuelo, both of whom scored 9 goals, although Pozuelo played nearly twice as many minutes.[15]

In July 2021, Akinola had an ACL injury while on international duty with Canada, resulting in him missing the remainder of the 2021 season.[16] In January 2022, Akinola would sign a contract extension with Toronto through the 2024 season, with an option for 2025.[17]

In July 2023, he was loaned to fellow MLS side San Jose Earthquakes for the remainder of the 2023 season, with San Jose holding a purchase option.[18]

In May 2024, he agreed to a mutual termination of his contract.[19]

FC Wil

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In July 2024, Akinola would sign with Swiss Challenge League club FC Wil on a one-year contract.[20]

International career

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Akinola was eligible to play internationally for the United States, Canada, and Nigeria, due to birth, residency, and heritage, respectively.[21][22] While he was playing for the United States youth teams, both the Canadian Soccer Association and the Nigeria Football Federation 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."[23]

United States

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Akinola in action with the United States U20 in 2019.

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. The following day he scored his first international goal, netting four in a 6–2 win against Croatia. He also scored in his final appearances for the U15s in a 3–3 draw in England.[24]

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 at the FIFA U17 World Cup in India.[25]

He was called up to the U.S. senior team for their friendly match on December 9, 2020, against El Salvador.[26] 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.[27][28]

Canada

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Akinola accepted an invitation to a Canada training camp held in January 2021,[29] but was forced to withdraw for health reasons.[30] He then accepted an invitation to join the Canadian team for training prior to their World Cup qualifying matches on May 29, 2021.[31] He was named to Canada's 60-man preliminary squad for the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup on June 18, 2021.[32] The Canadian Soccer Association confirmed on June 30 that he had filed his one-time switch to represent Canada internationally,[33] and was named to the final 23-man squad for the Gold Cup on July 1,[34] Akinola made his first appearance for Canada at the tournament in their second group game against Haiti on July 15.[35] In his second match for Canada, on July 18, 2021, Akinola faced his former country, the United States in the final round of the group stage. 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 Toronto FC.[16]

Personal life

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Ayo's younger brother Tom is also a soccer player and was a member of the TFC Academy and has attended a Canadian under-14 camp.[29]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of match played November 1, 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Playoffs National cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Toronto FC II 2016 United Soccer League 10 2 — — — — 10 2
Toronto FC 2018 Major League Soccer 4 0 — 2 1 — — 6 1
2019 8 1 — 1 0 2[a] 0 — 11 1
2020 15[b] 9 1 0 — — — 16 9
2021 11 3 — — 2[a] 0 — 13 3
2022 26 2 — 4[c] 2 — — 30 4
2023 14 0 — 1 0 — — 15 0
2024 5 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0 5 0
Total 83 15 1 0 8 3 4 0 0 0 96 18
Toronto FC II (loan) 2018 United Soccer League 16 5 — — — — 16 5
2019 USL League One 8 1 — — — — 8 1
2023 MLS Next Pro 1 0 — — — — 1 0
Total 25 6 — — — — 25 6
San Jose Earthquakes (loan) 2023 Major League Soccer 7 0 0 0 — — 1[d] 0 8 0
FC Wil 2024–25 Swiss Challenge League 9 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 3
Career total 134 26 1 0 8 3 4 0 1 0 148 29
  1. ^ a b Appearance(s) in CONCACAF Champions League
  2. ^ Includes three appearances and five goals in MLS is Back Tournament group stage
  3. ^ Includes appearance in 2020 Canadian Championship final (played in 2022)
  4. ^ Appearance(s) in Leagues Cup

International

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As of match played March 28, 2022
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
United States 2020 1 1
Total 1 1
Canada 2021 2 0
2022 1 0
2023 1 0
Total 4 0
Career total 5 0
As of match played December 9, 2020. Akinola's team's score listed first, score column indicates score after each Akinola goal.[7]
International goals by date, venue, team, opponent, score, result and competition
No. Date Venue Team Opponent Score Result Competition
1 December 9, 2020 Inter Miami CF Stadium, Fort Lauderdale, United States  United States  El Salvador 5–0 6–0 Friendly

Honours

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Toronto FC

United States U20

Individual

References

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  1. ^ "National team roster 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup" (PDF). CONCACAF.
  2. ^ "FIFA U-20 World Cup Poland 2019: List of players" (PDF). FIFA. May 15, 2019. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  3. ^ "Ayo Akinola". Toronto FC. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
  4. ^ "How Brampton shaped these 4 professionals". CBC Toronto. Event occurs at 9:15.
  5. ^ a b "Ayo Akinola". Toronto FC. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
  6. ^ "Tweet – St. Marguerite d'Youville CSS". Twitter.
  7. ^ a b "USA – A. Akinola – Profile with news, career statistics and history – Soccerway". Soccerway. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
  8. ^ "Ayo Akinola Named To USL Team Of The Week". Toronto FC. July 12, 2016. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  9. ^ Grossi, James (November 15, 2017). "Toronto FC academy player, US U-17 Ayo Akinola takes trial with PSV". MLS Soccer. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  10. ^ "Teenage forward Ayo Akinola signs as Toronto FC homegrown player". Toronto Sun. December 18, 2017. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  11. ^ "Toronto FC Sign Ayo Akinola". torontofc.ca. MLS. December 18, 2017. Retrieved January 27, 2018.
  12. ^ Boehm, Charles (March 17, 2019). "Dual-national US U-20 forward Ayo Akinola scores first MLS goal for TFC". Major League Soccer. Archived from the original on June 11, 2019. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  13. ^ "D.C. United's late rally nets two goals earning 2–2 draw against Toronto FC". Fox Sports. July 13, 2020. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  14. ^ "Ayo Akinola hat trick lifts TFC past the Montreal Impact". Toronto Star. July 16, 2020.
  15. ^ Tierney, Mitchell; Bailey, Martyn (November 13, 2020). "By The Numbers: Where have the goals gone for Toronto FC?". Waking the Red. Archived from the original on August 30, 2022. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
  16. ^ a b "Ayo Akinola suffers ACL injury". July 20, 2021.
  17. ^ "Toronto FC sign Ayo Akinola to new deal". Toronto FC. January 20, 2022.
  18. ^ "Toronto FC loan forward Ayo Akinola to San Jose Earthquakes". Toronto FC. July 25, 2023.
  19. ^ "Toronto FC and Ayo Akinola agree on mutual contract termination". Toronto FC. May 7, 2024.
  20. ^ "FC Wil 1900 erpflichtet MLS Stuermer/". FC Wil. July 3, 2024.
  21. ^ Kingsley, Igho (September 19, 2017). "Toronto FC wonderkid Akinola set to follow in the footsteps of Man Utd's Olosunde". All Nigeria Soccer. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
  22. ^ "Toronto FC II's Akinola Ascending with U.S. U17s". USL Soccer. December 10, 2016. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  23. ^ "TFC's Ayo Akinola has tough choice on international future". Toronto Star. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  24. ^ "Ayo Akinola". ussoccer.com. Archived from the original on July 8, 2016. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
  25. ^ "TFC's Akinola scores as US U-17s edge Ghana in key U-17 World Cup clash". October 9, 2017.
  26. ^ Reid, Brady (November 30, 2020). "Ayo Akinola named to American squad for upcoming friendly vs El Salvador". Waking the Red. Archived from the original on August 30, 2022. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  27. ^ "Mueller, Akinola lead US rout of El Salvador in exhibition". TSN. December 9, 2020.
  28. ^ Singh, Michael (December 9, 2020). "Ayo Akinola takes a knee after scoring 1st goal in 1st appearance for U.S. national team". Waking the Red. Archived from the original on August 30, 2022. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  29. ^ a b Davidson, Neil (December 23, 2020). "TFC's Ayo Akinola accepts invite to Canadian national team camp". CBC.
  30. ^ "Toronto FC's Ayo Akinola unable to attend Canada camp due to injury". Sportsnet. January 14, 2021.
  31. ^ Singh, Michael (May 31, 2021). "Ayo Akinola among 6 Toronto FC players named to 'extended' Canada squad". Waking the Red. Archived from the original on August 30, 2022. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  32. ^ "Canada names 60 man preliminary roster for Gold Cup". June 18, 2021.
  33. ^ "Ayo Akinola Joins Canada's Men's National Team Program". Canadian Soccer Association. June 30, 2021.
  34. ^ "CANADA SOCCER ANNOUNCES 2021 CONCACAF GOLD CUP ROSTER". July 1, 2021.
  35. ^ Singh, Michael (July 15, 2021). "Akinola makes first appearance as Canada defeats Haiti to move on to Gold Cup quarter-finals". Waking the Red. Archived from the original on August 30, 2022. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  36. ^ "At last, Toronto FC capture 2020 Canadian Championship over Forge FC". Major League Soccer. June 4, 2022. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
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