Adam Buksa

Adam Buksa (born 12 July 1996) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a centre forward for Danish Superliga club Midtjylland and the Poland national team.[1] Besides Poland, he has played in Italy, United States, France and Turkey.[2] He is the older brother of Aleksander Buksa.

Adam Buksa
Buksa in 2020
Personal information
Date of birth (1996-07-12) 12 July 1996 (age 28)
Place of birthKraków, Poland
Height1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Position(s)Striker
Team information
Current team
Midtjylland
Youth career
Wisła Kraków
0000–2010Hutnik Kraków
2010–2013Garbarnia Kraków
2013Wisła Kraków
2013–2014Novara
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2014–2016Lechia Gdańsk16(1)
2014–2016Lechia Gdańsk II10(3)
2016–2018Zagłębie Lubin30(5)
2016–2017Zagłębie Lubin II6(5)
2017–2018Pogoń Szczecin (loan)12(4)
2018–2020Pogoń Szczecin40(18)
2020–2022New England Revolution64(29)
2022–2024Lens8(0)
2023Lens II1(1)
2023–2024Antalyaspor (loan)33(16)
2024–Midtjylland0(0)
International career
2013Poland U172(0)
2013–2014Poland U1811(2)
2014–2015Poland U199(4)
2016–2019Poland U2112(2)
2021–Poland17(7)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 24 May 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 21 June 2024

Club career

Clubs in Poland

Adam Buksa is a product of the club's youth system of Wisła Kraków, but started his professional career in Lechia Gdańsk and made his debut on 25 July 2014 against Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała. He played for Lechia for two seasons and moved to Zagłębie Lubin after the 2015–16 season.[3]

In Zagłębie, Buksa played until January 2018 and was loaned out to Pogoń Szczecin for the remainder of the 2017–18 season. After the season, Buksa signed a contract with Pogoń and established himself as one of the most promising young strikers in Poland.[4] In December 2019, he signed a contract for three years with New England Revolution from Major League Soccer.

New England Revolution

Buksa signed for the New England Revolution on 12 December 2019. His reported transfer fee of $4.5 million made him the second-most expensive signing in the franchises' history behind Gustavo Bou. He became the third Polish-born player to represent the Revolution, joining Rob Jachym (1997–98) and Janusz Michallik (1998).[5][6] Buksa made his first appearance for the team in the season opener, a 2–1 loss to Montreal Impact on 29 February 2020.[7] He scored his first goal for the Revolution in the 28th minute the franchises' home opener against the Chicago Fire on 7 March 2020, assisted by Brandon Bye. It was the first goal scored by a first-year Revolution player in a home opener since Saër Sène in 2012 against the Portland Timbers.[8]

Buksa finished second in regular-season scoring for the Revolution in his inaugural campaign, with six goals and two assists in 23 appearances.[9]

On 24 November 2020, in the 26th minute of the first round of the 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs, Buksa scored the game-winning goal in the Revolutions' 2–0 victory over the 1st-seeded, Supporter's Shield holders, the Philadelphia Union.[10]

Buksa scored the first goal of the Revolution's 2021 season in the franchises' season-opener against the Chicago Fire at Soldier Field on 17 April 2021 [11] He would lead the Revolution to their first MLS Supporter's Shield, finishing the 2021 season as the Revolution's top goal scorer. He would conclude the 2021 season tied for 5th in the league in goals scored with 16 in 31 appearances.[12] He would score the club's opening goal in the 2021 MLS Playoffs against eventual-champion NYCFC. Buksa's penalty would later be saved by Sean Johnson as the Revolution ultimately fell 3-2 in penalties following a 2–2 draw in open play.[13]

Buksa started the 2022 season strongly, scoring 7 goals in his first 10 matches for the club. His start to the season included a 7 game scoring streak, which tied a team record set by Wolde Harris in 2000.[14][15] On 29 May 2022 Seth Macomber of The Bent Musket reported that Buksa, who had missed the Revolution's past two matches and had been released to Poland for national team duty, was close to joining Lens on a permanent deal.[16] On 6 June 2022. The Boston Globe's Frank Dell'Apa reported that the Revolution had indeed agreed to transfer Buksa to Lens in return for a transfer fee of $10 million, believed to be a record fee paid for a player by the French club. Buksa finished his Revolution career 11th on the all-time list of goal scorers for the club, with 35 goals in 73 games.[17]

Lens

Buksa with Lens in 2023 during warming up.

On 7 June 2022, New England Revolution announced that Buksa would be leaving the club and would be transferring to Ligue 1 club Lens for a reported transfer fee of $10 million. He joined Lens on 10 July 2022.[18] He made his first appearance in Ligue 1 on 9 September 2022 against Troyes.

Loan to Antalyaspor

On 18 July 2023, Buksa was sent on a season-long loan, with an option to buy, to Turkish club Antalyaspor, joining his compatriot Jakub Kałuziński.[19] He ended the season with 16 goals in 33 Süper Lig appearances, and was Antalyaspor's top goalscorer in all competitions across the 2023–24 campaign.[20] On 25 May 2024, a day after playing his final game for the club, Buksa announced on Instagram that he would leave Antalyaspor upon the expiry of his loan.[21]

Midtjylland

On 11 July 2024, Buksa moved to Danish defending champions Midtjylland on a four-year deal, for a reported fee of €4.5 million.[22]

International career

Buksa received first call-up to the Poland national team by then-manager Jerzy Brzęczek in a friendly against the Czech Republic on 15 November 2018, but was unused in Poland's 1–0 defeat.[23] He was also an unused reserve in Poland's 1–1 away draw to Portugal in the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League A, where Poland finished bottom but later spared from relegation due to UEFA's revising the format.[24]

After three years hiatus, Buksa finally made his debut for the national team against Albania as a starter in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification, he also contributed one goal in the match where Poland achieved a 4–1 home win over the Balkan opponents.[25]

On just his second appearance with the national team, Buksa completed his first-ever hat trick as Poland went on to win against San Marino 7–1.[26]

Buksa was selected for his first international tournament on 7 June 2024, making Poland's final squad for UEFA Euro 2024 in Germany.[27] In Poland's opening match of the tournament against the Netherlands on 16 June, he scored off of a corner kick in the 16th minute to give Poland an early lead, before they fell to goals from Cody Gakpo and Wout Weghorst, losing the game 1–2.[28]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 24 May 2024[29]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueNational cup[a]ContinentalOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Lechia Gdańsk2014–15Ekstraklasa800080
2015–16Ekstraklasa811091
Total16110171
Zagłębie Lubin2016–17Ekstraklasa22400224
2017–18Ekstraklasa811091
Total30510315
Pogoń Szczecin (loan)2017–18Ekstraklasa12400124
Pogoń Szczecin2018–19Ekstraklasa2211102311
2019–20Ekstraklasa18720207
Total4018304318
New England Revolution2020MLS2365[b]1287
2021MLS31161[c]13217
2022MLS107122[d]2001311
Total64291222627335
Lens2022–23Ligue 1800080
Antalyaspor (loan)2023–24Süper Lig3316203516
Midtjylland2024–25Danish Superliga0000000000
Career total2007182226221677

International

As of match played 21 June 2024
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Poland
202155
202240
202341
202441
Total177
Scores and results list Poland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Buksa goal.
List of international goals scored by Adam Buksa
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
12 September 2021Stadion Narodowy, Warsaw, Poland  Albania2–14–12022 FIFA World Cup qualification
25 September 2021San Marino Stadium, Serravalle, San Marino  San Marino5–17–12022 FIFA World Cup qualification
36–1
47–1
59 October 2021Stadion Narodowy, Warsaw, Poland  San Marino4–05–02022 FIFA World Cup qualification
612 October 2023Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands  Faroe Islands2–02–0UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying
716 June 2024Volksparkstadion, Hamburg, Germany  Netherlands1–01–2UEFA Euro 2024

Honours

Zagłębie Lubin II

New England Revolution

References