Ola Kamara, born in Norway, bounced his way across his home country, Germany and Austria before landing in the States. In February of 2016, the Columbus Crew signed him to a contract. One of the most prolific goal scorers in the past decade of Major League Soccer, Kamara has not gotten the credit he deserves. He has never made an MLS All-Star Team, despite scoring 14+ goals in four seasons. He never won any individual awards.
In 2016, Kamara was runner-up behind Nicolas Lodeiro in the Newcomer of the Year race. At the beginning of his MLS career, he was a mere sub. That changed quickly, as a run of starts got him into form. Not many players score their first goal(s) in hat trick fashion, but he did just that against Real Salt Lake. He tapped in Justin Meram's low cross for his first goal of many in the league. The second was a header on a Waylon Francis cross, the final goal a diving header off a corner. In the very next match, he volleyed home a cross in rhythm. With less than 30 seconds to go, down 1-0 to the Red Bulls, he equalized late. Kamara scored a brace in the next game against SKC. He used his knees to redirect a cross in, then ran in behind to tie it up while being a man down. The tear he was on did not stop there. He pulled one back in a loss to New England in the next one.
After taking one game off from scoring, he got right back to it thanks to a Harrison Afful cross. In the next match, he hit double digit goal scoring by earning and scoring his own penalty kick. In September, Kamara scored a brace in two consecutive games. Ethan Finlay returned the favor of an earlier assisted from Ola, squaring one for a tap in. His long sprint to add a second in Orlando made it ta brace. His brace against New England in the following game consisted of a left footed shot into the bottom corner, as well as a penalty he earned. On Decision Day, he headed one last goal in against NYCFC. It was a 16 goal season in his first in MLS.
In 2017, Kamara scored in the final minute of the season opener. In the second match, he put away another penalty that he drew. He scored in all three of the first matches, chipping the Portland Timbers. He tapped a cross against Toronto FC into the net. He scored a volley against Montreal to confirm a victory at home. In late July, Kamara did the double in Salt Lake. He smashed his strike into the upper netting, before bouncing home a volley from a rebound off the crossbar. He scored in four consecutive games on a stretch from August to September. He notched the first of the streak versus his future team. A sly flick set one up in Vancouver. His 18th goal of the year took place on Decision Day against NYCFC. That same NYCFC squad was an opponent in the playoffs, where Kamara scored his first playoff goal on Halloween. Toronto FC knocked the Crew out.
In January of 2018, Kamara was a piece in a league-changing move. The LA Galaxy acquired him in exchange for Gyasi Zardes and $500K in allocation money. He got right back to what he does best, scoring goals. His first Galaxy goal happened quite quickly in his debut. He scored a hat trick for Norway on international duty, he has scored 7 goals in 17 caps for his country. Zlatan Ibrahimovic played a perfect through ball so he could drill another into the netting. Ola scored a match-winner in Montreal despite being down a man. He finished off Real Salt Lake with a low left footed shot. He slotted an Ashley Cole cross into the goal, scoring against his former team and letting them know. Kamara rounded the keeper to equalize El Trafico in the late moments. He also potted a goal against Seattle during a big win. It was a brace in October against the Houston Dynamo, the first a header with a dance, the second Decision Day goal was roofed.
The Galaxy missed the playoffs, and Ola Kamara departed the club. With Zlatan taking over the striker position, he wanted to go elsewhere. His move was to China, which ended up being a complete waste of time. He played five games with Shenzhen before returning right back to the United States. DC United took him in the allocation order, paying a $2.5m transfer fee. In his first started with his new club, he scored one of the most beautiful goals of his career, teeing up a top corner curler from a tough angle. He poked one in against Montreal, then scored a second in the match off a corner. His 3 goals came in just 257 minutes of play since returning to the league.
In 2020, Kamara had a pretty average season for his standards, but it was of course such a weird year. He rolled a penalty kick in calmly, it was the first of many penalty kicks he would score in black and red. His breakaway strike against Toronto FC went off the post and in. He beat Sean Johnson with a pen right down the middle at Yankee Stadium. He pounded home a Decision Day header, a day in which he scores every time without fail. That was all she wrote for the 2020 campaign.
In 2021, Ola Kamara scored the most goals he ever had in a single MLS season, as well as the most assists in a season. Nine of his 19 goals came from the penalty spot, so we will skip showing those highlights. He is 24/28 for his career on PKs. He scored his first goal of the year in his first game of the year, shooting towards the back post. Kamara scored a brace against Inter Miami. He curled a shot into the bottom right corner, then headed the second at the back stick. He posted an astonishing six match run between July 3rd and August 15th, scoring on 7 occasions. He held his line to score in a 7-1 thrashing of Toronto FC. He scored a brace versus his former team in Columbus, capitalizing on a bad giveaway, then converting a penalty. On September 15th, he put three goals past Chicago. The first goal of the trio was at the dot. The second was from that same dot. Once the Fire got him off the penalty spot, he headed a first half hat trick in. On Decision Day, when again he quite literally scores every year, he scored a brace, including a hockey-like tip in front. It was a 19 goal and 5 assist season for him.
In 2022, Ola Kamara fell just short of his fifth double-digit scoring season. He added 9 to his total MLS tally of 83 goals. He scored against Charlotte in week one, despite him knowing nothing about it. His match two 98th minute penalty defeated FC Cincinnati 1-0 on the road. He scored a brace against Austin, the first at 26', the double at 40'. DC United would go onto throw his contributions away and lose 3-2. Ola Kamara scored his final goal for DC United and in Major League Soccer on August 31st, when he nudged home a tap in inches from the goal line. Kamara's teams were never quite good enough to make runs in the playoffs, he barely ever played in the postseason at all. Regardless, his goal scoring was so incredibly consistent for each team he represented in the league. His exit to Sweden's Hacken ended his reign in MLS. Ola Kamara's pure goal scoring ability earns him #35.
YEAR | CLUB | MINUTES | GOALS | ASSISTS |
2022 | DC | 1,486 | 9 | 1 |
2021 | DC | 1,819 | 19 | 5 |
2020 | DC | 1,328 | 4 | 0 |
2019 | DC | 257 | 3 | 0 |
2018 | LA | 2,689 | 14 | 3 |
2017 | CLB | 2,867 | 18 | 3 |
2016 | CLB | 1,859 | 16 | 2 |
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