Alphonso Boyle Davies (born November 2, 2000) is a Canadian professional soccer player who currently plays for Bundesliga club Bayern Munich, as well as the Canadian national team. Davies was the first player born in the millennium to appear in a Major League Soccer match.
Davies joined Bayern from MLS side Vancouver Whitecaps FC in January 2019 on a contract extension until 2023, for a then-MLS record transfer fee.
In June 2017, he became the Canadian men’s national team’s youngest player.
He became the youngest player to score for the Canadian men’s national team, the youngest to score at the CONCACAF Gold Cup, and the first player born in the 2000s to score at a top level international tournament when he scored two goals against French Guiana in a 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup match. Davies is the first soccer player, and the first Canadian, to be appointed as an ambassador for the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR. Davies was born in Buduburam, a refugee camp in Ghana, to Liberian parents. His father, Debeah Davies, and mother, Victoria Davies, grew up in Monrovia, Liberia’s capital. During the Second Liberian Civil War, which displaced over 450,000 Liberians, they fled.
Alphonso’s family immigrated to Canada when he was five years old, eventually settling in Edmonton.
He received Canadian citizenship on June 6, 2017; prior to that, he was a Liberian national.
Alphonso was the fourth youngest of six brothers and sisters.
Davies went to St Nicholas Catholic Junior High, which is part of the Edmonton Catholic School District.
Davies began playing organized soccer as a child in Edmonton with Free Footie, an after-school soccer league for inner-city elementary school students who cannot afford registration fees and equipment, or who lack transportation to games. Davies joined the Whitecaps FC Residency in 2015 at the age of 14 after playing for Edmonton Internationals and Edmonton Strikers. Davies signed with Whitecaps FC 2 in the USL on February 23, 2016 after joining Vancouver Whitecaps FC during their 2016 MLS preseason tour.
Davies signed a first-team contract with the Whitecaps on July 15, 2016, with options for the 2019 and 2020 seasons. Following his impressive early MLS appearances, Davies drew interest and was scouted by European clubs such as Manchester United, Chelsea, and Liverpool, and he was named one of the world’s 60 best young soccer talents in 2017.
Davies was transferred to Bundesliga club Bayern Munich on July 25, 2018, with Davies finishing the 2018 MLS season with Vancouver before joining Bayern in January 2019.
Bayern Munich and Davies agreed to a contract extension until 2025 in April 2020, adding two years to his existing contract. Davies stated in an interview in March 2017 that “to be able to represent Canada is one of my dreams”.
Davies, who was born as a Liberian refugee, was initially only eligible for the Liberian national team.
Davies passed his Canadian citizenship test on June 6, 2017, and thus became a Canadian citizen, making him eligible to play for the Canadian national team. Davies scored a highlight reel goal on October 13, 2021, in a World Cup qualifying match against Panama, making an 80-yard run to keep the ball in play and reaching a top speed of 37.1 km/h.
Since September 2017, he has been dating Canadian forward Jordyn Huitema of Paris Saint-Germain Women and the Canada women’s national soccer team.
