Ercan Kara

Ercan Kara (born 3 January 1996) is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Rapid Wien, and the Austria national team.

Ercan Kara

Personal information
Date of birth	(1996-01-03) 3 January 1996 (age 29)
Place of birth	Vienna, Austria
Height	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)[1]
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Rapid Wien
Number	9
Youth career
2003–2012	Slovan HAC
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2012–2014	Slovan HAC	65	(33)
2014–2016	Austria Wien II	20	(1)
2016–2019	FC Mauerwerk	87	(83)
2019–2020	SV Horn	16	(13)
2020–2022	Rapid Wien	58	(27)
2022–2023	Orlando City	44	(16)
2023–	Samsunspor	31	(3)
2025–	→ Rapid Wien (loan)	15	(1)
International career‡
2021	Austria	7	(0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 11 June 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 15 November 2021

He has previously played for Slovan HAC, Austria Wien II, FC Mauerwerk, SV Horn and Rapid Wien across five divisions of the Austrian football pyramid as well as Orlando City SC in Major League Soccer.

Club career

Slovan HAC

Kara came through the Slovan HAC youth system. On 13 November 2011, he made his senior debut for Slovan's first team as a 15-year-old in the fourth-tier Wiener Stadtliga as a 60th-minute substitute for Burak Özbek in a 5–1 defeat at home to Nußdorfer AC.^[2] In his debut season, Kara made ten league appearances and a further appearance in the local Wiener Cup, but did not score. On 25 May 2013, Kara scored his first senior goal for Slovan, in a 3–2 Wiener Stadtliga defeat against Post SV Wien.^[3] It was his only goal of the season in 29 appearances. Slovan took voluntary relegation to the sixth tier Wiener Oberliga A. In the 2013–14 season, Kara scored 32 goals in 27 Oberliga appearances but the team did not achieve promotion following a seventh-place finish.

Austria Wien II

Ahead of the 2014–15 season, 18-year-old Kara signed with Austria Wien, spending two seasons with the club's reserve team in the third-tier Regionalliga Ost. He made 16 appearances and scored once. His playing time was limited as academy director Ralf Muhr expressed doubts about his fitness level.^[4]

FC Mauerwerk

In 2016, Kara returned to the Wiener Stadtliga with Karabakh Wien (later renamed FC Mauerwerk in 2018). Kara finished his first season with the team as the Wiener Stadtliga top goalscorer with 35 goals in 30 appearances as the team won the division title and promotion to the Regionalliga Ost. In the following two seasons, Kara again led the league in goals with 26 and 22 goals respectively as FC Mauerwerk earned 5th-place and 2nd-place finishes.^[5]

SV Horn

In July 2019, Kara signed with SV Horn of the 2. Liga.^[6] He made his competitive SV Horn debut on 20 July 2019 in an ÖFB Cup first round game against FCM Traiskirchen, scoring twice in a 5–1 victory. He made his 2. Liga debut six days later, scoring another two goals as Horn beat Austria Wien II 5–1. With 13 goals in 16 appearances in his debut 2. Liga, Kara attracted first division interest and was sold by Horn after only six months.

Rapid Wien

In January 2020, Austrian Bundesliga club Rapid Wien signed Kara to a two-and-a-half-year contract.^[7] He made his debut on 23 February 2020, entering as an 81st-minute substitute for Christoph Knasmüllner with Rapid trailing 2–1 to TSV Hartberg and scored a 90+3rd-minute game-tying goal. In total, Kara scored three goals in nine appearances in the second half of the season. In his first full season with the club, Kara appeared in all 32 Bundesliga games and scored 15 goals, the fourth-highest in the league and the most in the Rapid squad. He also made his continental debut during the 2020–21 season, on 26 August 2020 against Lokomotiva Zagreb in the UEFA Champions League second qualifying round, scoring the only goal in a 1–0 win.^[8] The team lost in the third qualifying round, dropping them in to the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League group stage. Kara scored two Europa League goals, both in a 3–1 win over Irish team Dundalk, as Rapid finished third behind Arsenal and Molde.^[9] In March 2021, Rapid head coach Dietmar Kühbauer likened Kara's height, acrobatic ability and goalscoring prowess to that of a Zlatan Ibrahimović with fans later nicknaming him "Karabrimovic" on social media.^[10]

Orlando City

On 27 January 2022, with only six months left on his Rapid contract, Kara was sold to Major League Soccer team Orlando City ahead of the 2022 season for a reported $800,000.^[11] He signed a three-year Designated Player contract with additional club options in 2025 and 2026.^[12] Ercan scored his first goal in U.S. Open Cup competition on 10 May 2022, during a 2-1 round of 32 victory over the Philadelphia Union.^[13]

Samsunspor

On 2 September 2023, Kara transferred to Turkish Süper Lig club Samsunspor for an undisclosed fee.^[14]

Return to Rapid Wien

On 6 February 2025, Kara returned to Rapid Wien on loan.^[15] On July 1st 2025, Kara made a permanent transfer to Rapid Wien, signing a two-year contract.

International career

Born in Austria, Kara is of Turkish descent and was also eligible to represent Turkey internationally. In January 2021, Kara said in a press conference that while he was aware Turkey was monitoring him and would consider representing them, he had only been contacted by Austrian officials.^[16] In March 2021, Franco Foda called up Kara to the Austria national team for the first time.^[17] He made his national team debut on 31 March 2021, coming on as a 74th-minute substitute for Xaver Schlager in a 4–0 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying loss to Denmark. The game was played behind closed doors at Ernst-Happel-Stadion in his hometown, Vienna.^[18] In April 2021, Turkey manager Şenol Güneş admitted that he had missed out on cap-tying Kara having not been able to travel to Austria to watch him in person due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[19] On 9 October 2021, Kara made his first start in Austria's 2–0 away win against the Faroe Islands in World Cup qualification, assisting the opening goal scored by Konrad Laimer.^[20]

Career statistics

Club

As of 31 July 2025^[21][22]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup[a]		Continental		Other[b]		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Slovan HAC	2011–12	Wiener Stadtliga	10	0	—		—		1	0	11	0
	2012–13		28	1	—		—		1	0	29	1
	2013–14	Wiener Oberliga A	27	32	—		—		1	0	28	32
	Total		65	33	0	0	0	0	3	0	68	33
Austria Wien II	2014–15	Regionalliga Ost	16	1	—		—		—		16	1
	2015–16		4	0	—		—		—		4	0
	Total		20	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	20	1
FC Mauerwerk	2016–17	Wiener Stadtliga	30	35	1	0	—		3	5	34	40
	2017–18	Regionalliga Ost	29	26	1	1	—		—		30	27
	2018–19		28	22	1	0	—		—		29	22
	Total		87	83	3	1	0	0	3	5	93	89
SV Horn	2019–20	2. Liga	16	13	2	2	—		—		18	15
Rapid Wien	2019–20	Austrian Bundesliga	9	3	—		—		—		9	3
	2020–21		32	15	3	2	8[c]	3	—		43	20
	2021–22		17	9	3	2	12[d]	3	—		32	14
	Total		58	27	6	4	20	6	0	0	84	37
Orlando City	2022	Major League Soccer	29	11	4	1	—		1	0	34	12
	2023		15	5	0	0	1	1	3	0	19	6
	Total		44	16	4	1	1	1	4	0	53	18
Samsunspor	2023–24	Süper Lig	23	0	2	1	—		—		25	1
	2024–25	Süper Lig	8	0	1	0	—		—		9	0
	Total		31	0	3	1	—		—		34	1
Rapid Wien (loan)	2024–25	Austrian Bundesliga	15	1	—		3[e]	0	—		18	1
	2025–26	Austrian Bundesliga	0	0	1	0	2[e]	0	—		3	0
	Total		15	1	1	0	5	0	—		21	1
Career total			336	174	19	9	26	7	10	5	391	195

1. Includes ÖFB Cup and U.S. Open Cup
2. Includes Wiener Fußballcup and Leagues Cup
3. Two appearances, one goal in UEFA Champions League qualifying; six appearances, two goals in UEFA Europa League
4. Two appearances in UEFA Champions League qualifying; ten appearances, three goals in UEFA Europa League
5. Appearances in UEFA Conference League

International

As of 15 November 2021

Austria
Year	Apps	Goals
2021	7	0
Total	7	0

Honours

FC Mauerwerk

• Wiener Stadtliga: 2016–17

Orlando City

• U.S. Open Cup: 2022

Individual

• Wiener Stadtliga golden boot: 2016–17
• Regionalliga Ost golden boot: 2017–18, 2018–19