Former Sporting KC striker Kei Kamara finally hangs up his boots at 41

Former Sporting KC striker Kei Kamara has officially hung up his boots. The veteran MLS forward announced his retirement this week at the ripe age of 41. If one word defines Kamara’s career, it is longevity. The Sierra Leone native played through multiple eras of Major League Soccer, beginning with the Columbus Crew in 2006 and lasting all the way to 2025.

Kamara suited up for 12 different MLS clubs during that span, including the San Jose Earthquakes, Houston Dynamo, Sporting KC, Columbus Crew, New England Revolution, Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Colorado Rapids, Minnesota United FC, CF Montreal, Chicago Fire FC, Los Angeles FC, and most recently, FC Cincinnati. Yet for Sporting Kansas City supporters, Kamara will always be remembered in Sporting Blue.

Kamara’s best club years came in Kansas City

The striker enjoyed some of the finest years of his career with Sporting KC, winning the U.S. Open Cup in 2012 and becoming a central figure in one of the club’s strongest periods. Kamara played more matches for Sporting KC than any other club in his career. In 122 appearances for the Wizards, he scored 40 goals and added 16 assists.

His best season in Kansas City came in 2012, when he tallied 11 goals and eight assists to help Sporting KC finish atop the Eastern Conference with 63 points, just three behind the Supporters’ Shield-winning Earthquakes. It was the campaign that cemented Kamara as a fan favorite and one of the league’s most dangerous forwards.

A career that stretched well beyond MLS

While Kamara spent the majority of his career in MLS, he also ventured abroad with Norwich City, Middlesbrough, and HIFK. England never truly clicked, but Finland did, where he scored five goals and added two assists in 15 matches.

His move to Middlesbrough in 2013 also prevented him from being part of Sporting KC’s MLS Cup-winning squad that November. After returning from a loan spell with Norwich City to make 15 MLS appearances, Sporting sold Kamara for over $1 million in September, just before the MLS Cup Playoffs. To this day, he remains fifth on Sporting Kansas City’s all-time list for highest transfer sales.

Kamara also made 45 appearances for the Sierra Leone national football team, scoring eight goals between 2008 and 2025.

One of MLS’s all-time goal scorers

Kamara finished his MLS career with 147 goals, ranking second on the league’s all-time scoring chart behind only Chris Wondolowski. His best single MLS season came in 2015 with Columbus, when he scored 22 goals and added eight assists, sharing the Golden Boot with Sebastian Giovinco.

Across 16 MLS campaigns, Kamara hit double-digit goals seven times. His final season came with Cincinnati in 2025.

Although it has been more than a decade since Kamara wore Sporting Blue, he remains fondly remembered by a segment of the fanbase as part of the club’s most successful era. He may not have lifted the trophies others did, but without Kamara, Sporting KC’s rise likely would have looked different.

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