Tesho Akindele

Tesho Akindele (born March 31, 1992) is a Canadian and American former professional soccer player. He spent most of his career with FC Dallas and Orlando City SC in Major League Soccer (MLS).

Tesho Akindele was born in Canada to a Nigerian father and a Canadian mother and moved with his family to the US at the age of eight. He grew up in Thornton, Colorado, and was a standout for Northglenn High School, turning down an offer to join the Colorado Rapids academy at the age of 17 to focus on academics.

Akindele played four years of college soccer at the Colorado School of Mines, where he became the school's all-time goals leader with 76 goals scored and was a four-time All-American. He ranked second in the nation in goals scored in 2012 with 22 and was named a First Team NSCAA All-American and the 2012 RMAC Offensive Player of the Year for his efforts. Also an NSCAA First Team All-American and the RMAC Freshman of the Year in 2010, Akindele was the first player in the history of his school's conference to score three consecutive hat tricks.

Akindele also made a single appearance for USL PDL club Real Colorado Foxes in 2013.

On January 16, 2014, Akindele was drafted in the first round (sixth overall) of the 2014 MLS SuperDraft by FC Dallas, becoming the highest-highest-drafted NCAA Division II player in MLS history. Akindele made his professional debut in a 2–3 loss against Seattle Sounders FC on April 12, 2014. After scoring seven goals in 26 appearances, Akindele was named MLS Rookie of the Year.

On December 9, 2018, Dallas traded Akindele to Orlando City in exchange for $100,000 of Targeted Allocation Money in 2019 and $50,000 of General Allocation Money in 2020. He scored on his debut, a 2–2 draw in Orlando's season opener against New York City FC. Akindele had his option for the 2020 season exercised by Orlando, keeping him with the club for 2020. On May 1, 2021, Akindele broke the record for the fastest goal scored in Orlando City history at the time when he intercepted a backpass from Nick Hagglund to score the opener of a 3–0 win over FC Cincinnati in 31 seconds, breaking the previous record of 63 seconds set by Chris Mueller in 2018. Upon completion of the 2021 season, Akindele's option for the 2022 season was picked up by Orlando. The club declined Akindele's contract option as part of the end of season roster moves on November 14, 2022. At the time of his departure he ranked second all-time in appearances for the club in all competitions with 121 behind only Chris Mueller and sixth for goals with 21.

In December 2022, Akindele announced his retirement from professional soccer.

In April 2024, Akindele joined Des Moines Menace ahead of the 2024 U.S. Open Cup second round match.