What Mohammed Sofo is currently doing with the New York Red Bulls is easy compared to what he had to do 11 years ago, when he left his parents and siblings in Ghana to pursue a professional soccer career at just nine years old.
“I always knew I had it,” the 20-year-old forward told amNewYork. “I didn’t know I was going to get the opportunity to play like this, even though I knew I could show what I could do. So I’m not surprised by what is happening.”
Sofo had spent the last two seasons with the Red Bulls’ reserve team (eight goals in 30 matches) after being loaned from Guidards FC in Mali before being signed to an MLS contract in Sept. 2024. The speedster appeared destined for a reserve role in 2025, as he sat deep within the attacking depth chart behind the likes of Eric Choupo-Moting, Lewis Morgan, and Wiktor Bogacz.
But shortly before the Red Bulls’ home opener on March 1, Morgan went down with a knee issue that required surgery, adding him to an already lengthy list of injured players. It forced head coach Sandro Schwarz to turn to Sofo, who rewarded the decision with a goal in his MLS debut during New York’s 2-0 win over Nashville SC
The goals have not stopped since then. Sofo has scored six times in 10 matches across all competitions, and has two in his last two games — the opener in the Red Bulls’ US Open Cup Round of 16 win against FC Dallas and one off the bench to secure a 2-0 win over DC United in MLS play on Saturday.
He is the first Red Bulls player aged 20 or younger since Christian Casseres Jr. in 2019 to score at least three goals in MLS play.
“It’s always been about working hard and just preparing myself,” Sofo said. “I knew this is a long season, so you never know. That’s why you have to always be ready. When the opportunity came, it happened, I was ready to go at that time. When [Schwarz] gave me the opportunity, I did my best.”
His contributions have been pivotal in helping a sputtering Red Bulls attack stay afloat. Only Eric Choupo-Moting (seven) and Emil Forsberg (six) — European veterans who have played on the largest stages in world soccer — have equalled Sofo’s goal output this season.
Perhaps it is a sign of things to come for a burgeoning young talent, who one day dreams of playing in Europe. That, however, is a dream for another day.
“I still have a lot of growing ahead of me. I know I can progress a lot with the potential I have,” Sofo said. “I just have to keep working hard, and there are a lot of aspects of my game I can also improve. So, for me, everything I’m showing so far, I don’t even think this is a quarter of what I think I can do.”
Sofo admitted that he has to become a more “clinical” finisher and work on his off-ball movements to take another step in his development. For now, though, a more attainable aspiration is to get his parents stateside to see him play in person for the first time since he left home 11 years ago.
“That is the dream,” he said.
