Open Cup
On the Pitch
On the Pitch
On the Pitch
Oklahoma Roots and Orlando Revival: Daryl Dike Hunting Open Cup Crown with Lions
Orlando City SC returnee Daryl Dike discusses his career journey and Orlando’s Open Cup objective on the U.S. Soccer Podcast
Daryl Dike is back in The City Beautiful. The towering forward has returned to Orlando City SC after spending four seasons in England with West Bromwich Albion. The 26-year-old Dike is aiming to rekindle his goalscoring prowess as the Lions hunt a seventh consecutive MLS Cup Playoffs appearance and a second U.S. Open Cup crown.
Dike was born and raised in Edmond, Okla., as the youngest of five in a soccer-hungry Nigerian family, which features his brother, Bright Dike—a former Nigeria and Portland Timbers forward—and his sister, Courtney Dike—who suited up for Nigeria at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Dike developed in the OKC Energy FC youth system and was tabbed as the 2017-18 Gatorade Oklahoma Boys Soccer Player of the Year before going on to play collegiately at the University of Virginia. Named the 2019 NCAA College Cup’s Most Outstanding Player, Dike was subsequently selected by Orlando City with the fifth pick of the 2020 MLS SuperDraft.
From Oklahoma to Virginia, and later Orlando to England, Dike kicked off the new decade in impressive form. Dike scored eight goals in his debut MLS campaign with the Lions, bagged nine in the English Championship on loan with Barnsley FC in 2021, and scored 11 goals upon his return to Orlando to close out 2021. During that span, Dike earned multiple call-ups to the U.S. Men’s National Team and helped the Stars and Stripes win the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup, scoring a brace against Martinique in the group stage.
Dike lifts the trophy to celebrate the USMNT's victorious 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup campaign | Photo courtesy Omar Vega/Getty Images
“Things moved very, very quickly. I had just gotten drafted, I just started playing in Orlando, and then things just kind of took off. I got to experience English football for a little bit and then went on to move to a top team that had been in the Premier League for many years. I remember being there, and when I started to realize, ‘Oh, I'm playing English football, this is crazy.’
“There's a cup match and we're playing Chelsea, Fulham, Newcastle, Brentford. They are big clubs, and it's something that growing up in America, it's very different because it's something you always kind of dreamt of, but you never fully knew if it was a possibility because you only saw these things on TV. So, when it actually happened to me, it was a dream come true. It was so amazing.”
Thanks to a stellar start to his career, the then-21-year-old USMNT talent was transferred from Orlando to English Championship outfit West Bromwich Albion. From there, though, things started to unravel quickly. The in-form goalscorer sustained a hamstring injury in just his second match with the Baggies. His time at West Brom was marred by a series of significant injuries; suffering continual thigh injuries, rupturing his right Achilles tendon in 2023 and tearing his left Achilles tendon just five matches into his return from his first Achilles injury. Across four seasons with West Brom, Dike was limited to 68 appearances and 11 goals.
“Mentally, going over there [to England] and that period [of injuries] was the hardest I've ever had. Things were going well with football—I was playing with the national team, I was doing a lot of things, and everything seemed to be going 100 miles an hour, and I was loving it. When I got injured, everything just slowed down. Everything stopped, and I don't think that's ever anything that you really think about.
“It just felt like every single time I got back up from an injury; I just got knocked straight back down, and it was difficult. I'm not going to lie, it was very, very difficult for me. One thing I always told myself was that my career wasn't done; that I still had lots of time to go and fulfill my dreams and play at the top level and do all these things. I just had to kind of push through the little storm that was happening, and I always believed in myself that things would stop…I've grown from it.”
Upon the expiration of his contract May 2026, Dike was released by West Brom and later signed by Orlando City. Back with the club where he got his start, Dike has already scored twice in his first few appearances with the Lions.
“It means a lot,” Dike said of returning to Orlando. “When I was first here, this place was a home for me. It was a place that gave me my first opportunity, and a place where I was really, really happy. Now being back here, having the opportunity to be happy again, and play in front of some of the fans that have supported me for a very long time, a club that has supported me, throughout the beginning of my career to now, it's a good feeling, and I'm happy for it. I think it's nice to be able to now come into season and now contribute and now help and now not just be a fan on TV, but now on the pitch and able to contribute again.”
Dike’s return to Orlando coincides with the 16-year-old club’s maturation into a perennial Eastern Conference contender. Thanks to the summer additions of Dike and former French World Cup champion Antoine Griezmann, the Lions are unbeaten in their last four matches, sixth in the Eastern Conference and looking to extend their club-record postseason appearance streak to seven. Before postseason preparations fully kick in, Orlando will shift its focus to the Open Cup. Now two wins away from a trophy, Orlando City is seeking its second Open Cup title in five years.
“It’s a great tournament, and there's lots of people who haven't been able to go and play a Columbus Crew or play a San Diego [FC] or play against you know some of these [MLS] teams,” Dike said of the Open Cup. “It’s a big opportunity, and it's great because it gives some of these fan bases that aren't in MLS the opportunity to go and see how they compete against some of these top teams.
“It grows the sport collectively, not just the 30 teams in MLS, it's across the entire country. I think that's something that's very, very important, and it's an honor, of course, as a player to be able to contribute to that, to be able to play it, and of course with the trophy.”
“Obviously every footballer, every competitor, every athlete wants to win trophies, and the Open Cup is an opportunity to go and win a trophy,” Dike shared, adding, “I think for us, a lot of players know how good of a feeling it is to win something, and it's a good opportunity. It's something that you look forward to as an athlete, to play matches like this, to play in tournaments like this, and get that far. You want to win. Who doesn't want to win? That's what we play the sport for.”
