Ifunanyachi Achara

BIOGRAPHY

Ifunanyachi Achara was born on September 28, 1997, in Enugu, Nigeria. He is a forward in Major League Soccer.

Acahra was born in Enugu, Nigeria and grew up in the south east of Nigeria, where he lived until 2014 at the age of 16 or 17. He was noticed by former Nigerian national team player Jay-Jay Okocha who recommended him for the Nigerian U17 national team. He ultimately failed to make the roster for the team which won the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

He played youth soccer with Chicago Magic SC and won 2015 U-17 US National Youth Championship. He attended Berkshire School in Sheffield, Massachusetts, where he was named to the High School All-America game Best XI, in his senior year. At Berkshire, he was on the soccer and track teams with his future Black Rock FC and Toronto FC teammate Jacob Shaffelburg.

His family still lives in Engu, Nigeria, while his younger brother, Ugo Achara Jr., has a soccer scholarship to Northwestern University in Chicago, where he is part of the soccer program. In June 2020, following the killing of George Floyd during the COVID-19 pandemic by four member of the Minneapolis Police Department, he spoke out about racism, which he was not aware of until he went to the United States, noting that the way one is treated there boils down to skin colour, and it's sad that is still an issue in society. In October 2020, he started a campaign to raise money for the End SARS campaign to disband the Nigerian Special Anti-Robbery Squad that has a long history of committing abuses.

Achara was selected 25th overall in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft by Toronto FC. After an impressive showing in pre-season, he was signed to the first team on 21 February 2020.

Achara made his debut on 7 March 2020, during Toronto FC's season home opener. Achara supplied a man of the match performance. He appeared to score the opening goal in the 11th minute, however the goal would be ruled off-side in a VAR decision. Achara went on to score the only goal of the game in the 81st minute as Toronto beat New York City FC 1–0.

In the 2022 MLS Re-Entry Draft, he was selected in the second stage by the Houston Dynamo. On 7 December 2022, Achara signed with the Dynamo for their 2023 season, with a club option to extend his stay for 2024.