Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date of birth | February 6, 2003 | ||
Place of birth | Brampton, Ontario, Canada | ||
Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||
Position(s) | Left back, Striker | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | Forge FC | ||
Number | 20 | ||
Youth career | |||
Brampton East SC | |||
Woodbridge Strikers | |||
Unionville Milliken SC | |||
Toronto FC | |||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2021 | Toronto FC III | 4 | (0) |
2021 | Toronto FC II | 1 | (0) |
2022– | Forge FC | 53 | (9) |
2023 | → Sigma FC (loan) | 1 | (0) |
International career‡ | |||
2022– | Canada U20 | 5 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of July 14, 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of June 26, 2022 |
Kwasi Poku (born February 6, 2003) is a Canadian soccer player who currently plays for Forge FC in the Canadian Premier League.
Poku began playing youth soccer at age six with Brampton East SC. [1] He later played youth soccer with the Woodbridge Strikers, with whom he won the 2017 U14 Ontario Indoor Cup, scoring a hat-trick against Ottawa St. Anthony. [2] He was also part of the provincial Team Ontario that year. [3] He later played for Unionville Milliken SC. [4] He later joined the Toronto FC Academy. [5]
In 2021, he played with Toronto FC III in the League1 Ontario Summer Championship division making his debut on July 31 against Alliance United. [6] After the season, he joined the second team Toronto FC II in USL League One. He made his debut on October 1, 2021 against North Carolina FC. [7] In February 2022, he departed the Toronto FC organization. [8]
In February 2022, he signed a professional contract with Canadian Premier League side Forge FC. [9] He made his debut for his new club on February 16 in a 2022 CONCACAF Champions League match against Cruz Azul. [10] [11] Poku scored his first goal on October 9, 2022 in a 1-0 victory over HFX Wanderers FC. [12] In January 2023, Poku went on trial with Swedish Allsvenskan club BK Häcken. [13] In 2023, he played one game on loan with Forge's affiliate Sigma FC in League1 Ontario. [14] In later September 2023, he was named the CPL player of the week. [15] At the end of the 2023 season, he was nominated for the CPL U21 Player of the Year award. [16] [17] In October of the same year, he helped Forge win their fourth league title, following a 2–1 win over Cavalry FC in the play-off final. [18] During the 2024 season, he was moved from his typical left-back position to centre forward, after several injuries to the team's forwards. [19] [20] On June 23, 2024, he scored a brace in a 2-1 victory over Valour FC. [21] [22] He was named the league's Player of the Month for June 2024. [23] On July 10, he scored a backheel goal against Major League Soccer club Toronto FC in a 2-1 victory in the first leg of the 2024 Canadian Championship semi-finals. [24] On July 14, he scored another brace in a 2-1 victory over Pacific FC, [25] earning league Player of the Week honours. [26]
Born in Canada, Poku is of Ghanaian descent. [27] In April 2022, he was called up to the Canadian Under-20 team for two matches against Costa Rica. [28] In June 2022, he was named to the Canadian U-20 team for the 2022 CONCACAF U-20 Championship. [29] He appeared in all four of the team's matches, playing a total of 385 minutes, prior to their elimination in the round of 16. [30]
Club | Season | League | Playoffs | Domestic Cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Toronto FC III | 2021 [6] | League1 Ontario Summer Championship | 4 | 0 | – | – | – | 4 | 0 | |||
Toronto FC II | 2021 | USL League One | 1 | 0 | — | – | – | 1 | 0 | |||
Forge FC | 2022 | Canadian Premier League | 19 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 [lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 2 | 0 | 25 | 1 |
2023 | 21 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 24 | 2 | |||
2024 | 13 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 8 | ||
Total | 53 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 67 | 11 | ||
Sigma FC (loan) | 2023 [14] | League1 Ontario | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | |||
Career total | 59 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 73 | 11 |
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