FC Cincinnati signs Kei Kamara, who has second-most goals in MLS history

Kei Kamara speaks to reporters at FC Cincinnati training May 12, 2025.

One of Major League Soccer’s most productive all-time players, and its most-traveled, will now wear the orange and blue kits of FC Cincinnati to bolster the team’s offensive attack.

FC Cincinnati formally announced the signing of 40-year-old striker Kei Kamara Monday after MLS insider Tom Bogert of GiveMeSports broke the news on Friday. Kamara is on contract through the 2025 season, with a club option for 2026. He will join the roster on a Supplemental Roster Spot.

Kamara, a Sierra Leone native, will play for his league record 12th MLS team. He is second in MLS history with 147 career goals, 24 behind Chris Wondolowski’s 171. He has appeared in the fourth-most matches in MLS history (445).

Last season with Los Angeles FC, Kamara scored eight goals in 40 appearances in all competitions, including a goal in extra time of the U.S. Open Cup Final as LAFC secured the championship.

Kamara was at TQL Stadium Saturday attending Cincy’s 2-1 win over Austin FC and participated in training with the club Monday morning in Milford.

Kamara, 6-foot-3, gives the club more options in the attack and adds experience and championship know-how. It’s rare to see a 40-year-old in MLS who isn’t a goalkeeper, but Kamara is different.

Kei Kamara (background, gold cleats) warms up with his new teammates May 12, 2025. FC Cincinnati signed the 40-year old striker, who has 147 career Major League Soccer goals,

“We look past the age,” FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan said. “The way he takes care of himself and what we’ve seen from his time with LAFC: A very powerful attacking piece. Somebody who with his back to goal is very strong and being able to link up with his midfield. There are very few who have had more success in our league with attacking crosses, with being an asset on set pieces. Still a very willing runner, whether that’s to stretch the field or to help the team press, he can still do all those things. So we’re excited to have him.”

Kamara said he chose Cincinnati over two other MLS clubs. He didn’t specify which ones, but he wanted to be part of a contending team and he wants to use his experience to counsel younger players.

“My last couple of seasons, I’ve been part of two of the best teams in the league, competing to try to win something, and that gives me extra motivation to wake up in the morning,” he said. “I’m here with a team that’s at the top of the table so I want to keep the standard this team has going forward. It’s not just getting on the field playing week in and week out. It’s about helping relay the information the coaches are giving. I might be the one to understand it faster than the other guys so how do I translate it quicker to the guys next to me.”

At the international level, Kamara has earned 42 caps for Sierra Leone and scored seven goals. He appeared in two FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in March including captaining his side in a 1-0 loss against Mo Salah and Egypt.

Kamara said because he hasn’t played a game since March, it’s too soon to know when he will first take the pitch for the Orange and Blue as they prepare for two road matches this week.

It is a homecoming of sorts for Kamara, who FC Cincinnati selected in the 2018 MLS expansion draft. The club picked Kamara in the second round and immediately traded him to Colorado in exchange for an international roster slot for the 2019 season.

Kamara said Monday he was hoping to stay with Cincinnati that year, and he has long-standing relationships with several members of the FC Cincinnati staff, including general manager Chris Albright.

“We’re excited to add a player of Kei’s quality, experience, and leadership to FC Cincinnati,” Albright said in a press release. “While he’s clearly one of the most prolific goal scorers in league history, his skillset also adds a different dynamic to our attack. We’d like to welcome him and his family to Cincinnati.”

Kamara’s MLS career began with Columbus as the No. 9 overall selection in the 2006 SuperDraft and spent two seasons with the Crew.

Kamara had five productive seasons with Sporting Kansas City from 2009-2013, where he scored 40 goals in all competitions – his most with any MLS club – and lifted the first of two career U.S. Open Cup trophies in 2012, when he scored in regulation and converted a penalty kick in the shootout as SKC defeated Seattle in the final.

Noonan and some of Kamara’s new teammates have gone against him several times. When Noonan was a player in MLS, he opposed Kamara in four MLS games between 2007-11.

Kamara has played against FC Cincinnati six times for five different teams, including last year for LAFC, starting up front during their 2-1 win at TQL Stadium on Sept. 28.

Counting LAFC, Kamara has played at TQL Stadium each of the previous three years for three different teams. He scored for Montreal in a 4-3 win at Cincinnati April 2, 2022, one of nine goals he had that season. He posted five goals for Chicago Fire in 2023, and came off the bench during a 1-0 Cincy win that season.

He also scored for Minnesota in a 2-0 win over Cincy in 2020, then started for Colorado in a 3-1 home win over Cincy in 2019.

Kamara had 22 goals for Columbus in 2015, leading the Crew to the MLS Cup final where they lost to Portland. He was an MLS All-Star that season, named to the MLS Best XI, and was also named the MLS Works Humanitarian of the Year that season.

Kamara has not played against Cincinnati in a Hell is Real derby but knows it’s one of the top rivalries in MLS. He said he wants to play until he is 45 and he is excited to help his new team and play in front of the fans at TQL Stadium.

He's already had teammates asking him how he keeps playing at age 40. Kamara said Miles Robinson asked him that last year when he was in an LAFC uniform and they talked again today.

“I’ve always been active,” he said. “I love running, I love cross country. I love staying healthy, no drinking, smoking, all those things. I just want to compete. I feel like if I push myself this much, the younger guys will do it. The harder you work, the more you’re going to achieve.”

Kei Kamara (white shirt) talks to some of his new teamamtes during training in Milford. FC Cincinnati May 12, 2025, signed the 40-year old striker, who has 147 career Major League Soccer goals,

FC Cincinnati heads to Toronto Wednesday

The Orange and Blue have two road games this week, playing at Toronto Wednesday night before the Hell is Real battle Saturday night at Columbus Crew.

Cincy will look to keep momentum against Toronto (2-6-4), who is 13^th place in the Eastern Conference. Toronto picked up its second win of the season Saturday, winning 2-0 at home vs. D.C. United. Designated Player Lorenzo Insigne scored his first goal of the season.

It is a rematch of FC Cincy’s 2-0 win at TQL Stadium March 8. Toronto’s defense has improved since then and the Canadian side has earned draws against some of the top teams in MLS: Miami, Vancouver and Minnesota. But the offense has struggled, scoring only 10 goals for the season. The second goal against D.C. was an own-goal, so counting that, the offense has not scored more than one in a game in the nine matches since leaving Cincinnati.

“Their shape has changed in recent games,” Noonan said. “Obviously coming off of better results in some of those games. Their first half against D.C. was as strong as we’ve seen from them. They could have scored a lot of goals.”

Noonan knows it’s tempting for fans and players to look ahead to Hell is Real. Cincy and Columbus enter the week tied for first in the Eastern Conference in points with 25. Both will play in Canada Wednesday night, as the Crew head to Montreal, who is in last place in the conference (1-8-3).

Depending on what happens in Canada and the rest of the conference Wednesday, Hell is Real could be for first place in the East. But first things first.

“We haven’t addressed the weekend. We know our opponent is Toronto on Wednesday,” Noonan said. “If anybody’s thinking about (Columbus), then Wednesday is going to be very challenging for us. But I don’t think that’s the case. I think the group is in a good place and understands what we need to do to put the last game behind us.”

Evander was named to the MLS Team of the Matchday for Matchday 12 after a goal and an assist in a 2-1 win over Austin FC. It is the fourth time he has earned the honor.