Nkosi Tafari

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Nkosi Tafari
MLS FC Dallas at Real Salt Lake (51429255189) (cropped).jpg
Tafari with FC Dallas in 2021
Personal information
Full name Nkosi Tafari Burgess
Date of birth (1997-03-23) March 23, 1997 (age 27)
Place of birth New York City, New York, United States
Height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) [1]
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
 Los Angeles FC
College career
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2015–2018 UConn Huskies 46 (1)
2019 Seattle Redhawks 20 (1)
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2020–2025 FC Dallas 107 (7)
2020–2021 → North Texas SC (loan) 8 (2)
2025– Los Angeles FC 0 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of January 25, 2025

Nkosi Tafari Burgess (born March 23, 1997) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a defender for Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC.

Contents

Club career

College

Tafari began playing college soccer at the University of Connecticut in 2015. He redshirted his Freshman season, before going on to make 46 appearances for the Huskies, scoring 1 goal and tallying 1 assist between 2016 and 2018. [2] In 2019, Tafari played his senior season at Seattle University, making 20 appearances and again tallying a single goal and an assist on his way to been named WAC Defensive Player of the Year and United Soccer Coaches All-Region First Team. [3] [4]

Professional

On January 9, 2020, Tafari was selected 14th overall in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft by FC Dallas. [5] He signed with the club on February 18, 2020. [6]

He made his professional debut on October 3, 2020, starting for Dallas' USL League One affiliate side North Texas SC in a fixture against Fort Lauderdale CF. [7]

He scored his first professional goal with FC Dallas on August 21, 2021, against the Houston Dynamo. On August 26, 2023, Tafari scored the game-winning goal in a 1–0 game against rivals. The goal came at 96:49 the latest game-winning goal in club history. [8]

On January 23, 2025, Tafari was traded to Los Angeles FC in exchange for $300,000 in General Allocation Money and an International Roster Slot. [9]

International career

In January 2024 he was selected for the senior United States squad for a match against Slovenia. [10]

Personal life

In 2021, Tafari announced he would go by his middle name Tafari instead of Burgess, choosing to distance himself from the name that has been "passed down from master to slave" and saying "I want to get back to my own roots and be proud of being African". [11] He is of mixed race Ethiopian and Malagasy descent through his mother. [12]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 8 September 2024 [13]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueNational cupContinentalTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
FC Dallas 2020 MLS 00——00
2021 MLS221——221
2022 MLS27020—290
2023 MLS333004 [a] 0373
2024 MLS253302 [a] 0303
Total107750601187
North Texas SC 2020 USL League One 61——61
2021 USL League One21——21
Total82——82
Career Total115950601269
  1. 1 2 Appearance(s) in Leagues Cup

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References

  1. ↑ "Nkosi Tafari Burgess". FC Dallas. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
  2. ↑ "Nkosi Tafari - Men's Soccer". University of Connecticut Athletics.
  3. ↑ "Nkosi Tafari - 2019 - Men's Soccer". Seattle University.
  4. ↑ "Nkosi Tafari". FC Dallas.
  5. ↑ Epperley, Drew (January 9, 2020). "FC Dallas selects two in the first round of the 2020 MLS Draft". Big D Soccer.
  6. ↑ "FC Dallas Signs 2020 SuperDraft No. 14 Overall Pick Nkosi Tafari". FC Dallas.
  7. ↑ "North Texas SC vs. Forward Madison FC - July 25, 2020". USLLeagueOne.com.
  8. ↑ @MLS_PR (August 27, 2023). "In tonight's 1-0 victory over rivals Austin FC, @FCDallas defender Nkosi Tafari scored the latest game-winning goal in club history at 96:49" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  9. ↑ Dallas, F. C. "FC Dallas Trades Defender Nkosi Tafari to LAFC for $300K in 2026 General Allocation Money and 2026 International Roster Slot". FC Dallas.
  10. ↑ "United States 0-1 Slovenia" (in Italian). ESPN. January 20, 2024. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  11. ↑ "Nkosi Tafari: Why I Chose to Go by My Middle Name". FC Dallas.
  12. ↑ "MLS : 87 joueurs africains engagés". beIN SPORTS France (in French).
  13. ↑ Nkosi Tafari at Soccerway. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
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