Kei Kamara has played for a lot of MLS teams, and the list may not even be complete. So far, he has played for seven teams in the last 10 years, with three more prior to 2014. The strangest part is how good the striker from Sierra Leone has been with just about every club. Usually, journeymen are passed around because they are not of much value, but that is far from the truth in this case. After returning to the United States from stints at Norwich City and Middlesbrough, the Columbus Crew snatched him up through the Allocation Order. The Crew were the team that originally drafted him in 2006.
In 2015, Kamara returned to the pitch for MLS action. It was a soaring resurgence. He scored his first goal back in the league during a victory over Toronto in match two. He added a hard hat celebration in honor of the old Crew logo. He scored a brace against the Vancouver Whitecaps, going near post, then tapping home a second. In May, Kei defeated the Seattle Sounders with another duo of goals. Just two games later, he dropped another double against the Chicago Fire, cleaning it up with a header at the back post. Kamara's fourth brace of the season was versus the New England Revolution, using a diving header to score a rebound, before turning the match-winner in later on. He made the MLS All-Star Team, playing one half in the victory over Tottenham.
After the break, he scored two more against the Colorado Rapids. In September, Kamara added a whopping sixth brace of the campaign in a win over Philadelphia, which included another diving header. The Crew headed into the playoffs as the second seed. He added a postseason brace in leg two against Montreal to his incredible season. He nodded the first one in just four minutes in, then looped an extra time header in to advance in the playoffs. A goal against the New York Red Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals put the Crew through to MLS Cup 2015. Despite the forward's best efforts by scoring with an incredible display of persistence in the final, the Portland Timbers stole it, 2-1. Kamara was the joint Golden Boot winner with 22 goals, losing out to Sebastian Giovinco on the assists tiebreaker. He made the 2015 Best XI and was the top-scorer in the playoffs. It was Kamara's best chance at a cup, the only team trophy he won was the 2012 US Open Cup with SKC. He also finished as runner-up to Sebastian Giovinco in the 2015 Landon Donovan MLS MVP race. Additionally, he won the 2015 MLS Works Humanitarian of the Year Award.
Kamara began the seasons with Columbus in 2016, but it did not last much longer. He scored in a 3-2 win over NYCFC, picking out the side netting with power and precision. In his very last Crew match of his second stint at the club, he said goodbye with a brace in a 4-4 draw with Montreal. In that match, he had a fight with Federico Higuain over a penalty kick and was suspended by manager Gregg Berhalter. Instead, he was traded away. In mid-May, the New England Revolution acquired Kei Kamara in exchange for allocation money, draft picks and an international slot. His opening goal for the club was a tally in a US Open Cup match against the New York Cosmos. In the very next game, he opened his Revs MLS account with a double in Montreal. He smashed a left-footed shot in at the near post and flicked a header in. He closed his season out with another goal against Montreal on Decision Day, after which he infamously celebrated with a twerk. The Revolution missed out on the playoffs on goal difference. Kamara scored 12 goals on the season.
In 2017, Kei matched his 12-goal season of the year prior. A goal at the back stick against Minnesota in a 5-2 March win served as his first of the season. In a 3-0 summer beatdown of the Philadelphia Union, he potted a pair of goals. The first goal was perhaps one of the most athletic goals you'll ever see, rising high and raising his boot above his head to push it home. After all his years in the league, and all the braces he scored, he finally scored his first MLS hat trick in September. He dropped a trio of goals on Orlando City. It began with a slick finish on a Scott Caldwell cross, followed by a one-two with Lee Nguyen, finished with a breakaway curler. His match-winning header against Toronto FC later in the month was his last goal for New England. He played 11 minutes on the final day of the year, coming in to provide an assist and end his time in Massachusetts on a high note.
In December 2017, the Vancouver Whitecaps became Kamara's newest destination, trading draft capital to get him. He scored in his debut against Montreal, a header while moving away from goal. He also scored in his second game, a 2-1 win over Houston. Kamara dominated Orlando with dual goals in a 5-2 home victory, one off an Alphonso Davies assist. He hit the back of the net twice more in the same game whilst defeating the Chicago Fire 3-2. In the summer, he scored a goal in five straight matches in all competitions. The 'Caps ended up falling to Toronto FC in the Canadian Championship. Kamara's 14th goal of the year took place in an October victory over TFC. His contract was up, ending his one year in Vancouver.
Kei Kamara's 2019 journey led him back down to the States, as he was drafted by FC Cincinnati in the Expansion Draft, immediately being traded to Colorado. The Rapids gave up an international slot. The trade brought Colorado 14 goals, the same number as the previous season for Kei. Just as he did in 2018, he scored on his debut for his new team, scoring on Portland before the snow came down in bunches. He found a streak of four straight matches with a goal, as his team lost every single game in the stretch. He closed it out with a consolation goal in a 4-1 loss to Chicago. Kamara's individual success was rarely ever enough for him to earn a playoff appearance. In a loss to his team from 2018, he scored both Rapids goals. In a game that they did win, he scored his second career hat trick against Montreal in August. It begun with a penalty, then was followed by a low left-footed strike and a header to make it 6-3. Kamara scored in each of the final three matches, closing out a ninth-placed finish with a diving header off the post and in versus LAFC. He had scored at least 12 goals in each of his five seasons back in Major League Soccer.
The 2020 season began in Colorado, but again it would not last long. In the opening match of the year, his goal helped beat DC United 2-1. A header down against San Jose in September was the last one in Burgundy. On the 18th of the month, Kamara made the move to Minnesota United. His first and only goal up North was a penalty kick against FC Cincinnati. This marked the eighth MLS team he had scored for, while no other player had hit six. Kamara finally got to experience another playoff run, but he made zero starts in the postseason as Minnesota lost in the Western Conference Finals. He became a free agent, and actually left MLS for a year. His 2021 year was spent in Finland with HIFK Fotboll.
Kamara just could not seem to stay away from MLS for long, signing a one-year deal with CF Montréal ahead of the 2022 campaign. He opened his account there with a goal during a 4-3 victory over FC Cincinnati. He played a different role than he was used to in Montreal, being used as a rotation player both in the starting lineup and off the bench. Regardless, he still had an extremely productive season, scoring 9 times. He also assisted 7 goals, just one short of his career-high. This included a two-assist match against Seattle in June. He scored a brace against his future club in Chicago, while also providing an assist. Kamara scored the lone goal to defeat Inter Miami on Decision Day, showing some youth with a nice solo run. He got to the playoffs again, but Montreal was upset by NYCFC at home in the second round. With that, his Montreal career ended after one season.
Ahead of the 2023 season, Kamara was unhappy with Montreal's contract offer, and was traded to the Chicago Fire in exchange for up to $400K in GAM. There are not many players that could attract a trade at that amount of money at age 38. He scored his final goal in Montreal against Miami, and his first in Chicago. He made a lung-busting run to win it in the final moments. The goal meant that Kamara had become the first player in MLS history to score a goal for 10 different teams. He posted a brace against Minnesota in a 2-1 April victory, the latter being a lovely diving header. Just as he had in Montreal, Kei mixed starts and sub appearances the rest of the way. He played just over 1,500 minutes in each of the last two seasons. Don Garber named Kamara a Commissioner's Pick for the 2023 MLS All-Star Team. His last Chicago Fire goal took place during Leagues Cup, helping to defeat Minnesota 3-2 with a fitting late winner.
Kei Kamara is not done playing professional soccer, even at the ripe age of 39. The striker would like to continue his career, he announced following Chicago's elimination from contention to the playoffs. The caveat is that he will not be remaining in Illinois. “I'm going to play another season in the MLS,” Kamara said. “I'm not done yet, definitely. I think this is my last game for the club, so I'll be moving on. I'll play another season." From his own words, Kamara is planning on signing, and perhaps scoring with a record 11th MLS club. With 144 career MLS goals, Kei Kamara sits in third place on the all-time scoring list. He is just one goal behind Landon Donovan, but quite a ways away from Chris Wondolowski up in first. For his historic goal-scoring levels and unique career, Kei Kamara comes in at #13.
YEAR | CLUB | MINUTES | GOALS | ASSISTS |
2023 | CHI | 1,520 | 5 | 2 |
2022 | MTL | 1,551 | 9 | 7 |
2020 | MIN/COL | 979 | 4 | 1 |
2019 | COL | 2,541 | 14 | 1 |
2018 | VAN | 2,166 | 14 | 6 |
2017 | NE | 2,365 | 12 | 5 |
2016 | NE/CLB | 2,659 | 12 | 0 |
2015 | CLB | 2,761 | 22 | 8 |
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