| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Taxiarchis Fountas | ||
| Date of birth | (1995-09-04)4 September 1995 (age 30) | ||
| Place of birth | Messolonghi, Greece | ||
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Second striker | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | OFI | ||
| Number | 11 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –2011 | Acheloos Neochoriou | ||
| 2011 | AEK Athens | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2011–2013 | AEK Athens | 35 | (4) |
| 2013–2016 | Red Bull Salzburg | 0 | (0) |
| 2013 | →Liefering (loan) | 6 | (0) |
| 2014 | →Grödig (loan) | 7 | (0) |
| 2014–2015 | →Panionios (loan) | 26 | (4) |
| 2015–2016 | →Asteras Tripolis (loan) | 16 | (1) |
| 2016–2017 | Panionios | 19 | (2) |
| 2017–2018 | Sonnenhof Grossaspach | 14 | (1) |
| 2018–2019 | St. Pölten | 21 | (4) |
| 2019–2022 | Rapid Wien | 68 | (35) |
| 2022–2023 | D.C. United | 38 | (18) |
| 2023–2024 | Trabzonspor | 29 | (2) |
| 2024– | OFI | 35 | (6) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2011 | Greece U17 | 5 | (1) |
| 2012–2014 | Greece U19 | 12 | (1) |
| 2013 | Greece U20 | 1 | (0) |
| 2015 | Greece U21 | 3 | (1) |
| 2015– | Greece | 19 | (1) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 25 November 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 20 March 2025 | |||
Taxiarchis Fountas (Greek:Ταξιάρχης Φούντας; born 4 September 1995) is a Greek professionalfootballer who plays as asecond striker forSuper League clubOFI and theGreece national team.
After beginning his career atAEK Athens, he went on to play in theAustrian Bundesliga withGrödig,St. Pölten andAustria Wien, while also being on the books ofRed Bull Salzburg. He also played inSuper League Greece forPanionios,Asteras Tripolis and now forOFI.
Fountas made his senior international debut for Greece in 2015.
Taxiarchis Fountas was scouted byToni Savevski, the head of AEK Athens' youth academy at the time. On 17 March 2012. Fountas made his senior debut forAEK Athens againstAsteras Tripolis being the youngest player to play for AEK Athens in a Superleague game aged 16 years 6 months and 13 days old.[2] He played 31 minutes in this game. He made his first start for the club on 22 April on the final day of the 2011–12 regular season againstDoxa Drama, completing the whole 90 minutes.
Fountas scored his first goal for the club in a 1–0 win againstPlatanias on 28 October 2012, thus becoming the youngest player to score for AEK at the age of 17 years and 54 days.[3] He scored another goal againstVeria on 18 October 2012 and another one againstPAS Giannina on 3 November 2012. He was also awarded the MVP award after this match. He scored his 4th goal again againstVeria on 16 March 2013 with a fine left foot shoot. When the club was relegated, the player was released. He also scored a snipe againstEverton in a friendly match in the summer of 2012.
In June Fountas was linked with a move toRed Bull Salzburg. A potential transfer was complicated by the financial problems of Fountas' clubAEK Athens which was on the verge of financial collapse.[4] In September 2013, he joined the club on a four-year contract.[5] After the signing of his contract, Fountas joinedFC Liefering of theAustrian Football First League on a six-month loan.
In January 2014, Fountas moved on loan toSV Grödig until end of season.[6][7] He made his first appearance in theAustrian Bundesliga a week later.
At the beginning of the 2014–15 season, Fountas moved on loan toPanionios, returning to theGreek Superleague.[8]
After Fountas' exceptional season with Panionios, he was loaned toAsteras Tripolis.[9][10] On 2 January 2016, he scored his first goal with the club to a 4–0 home win againstPanthrakikos.[11] On 5 January 2015, few days after his first goal with his club in the Greek Superleague, he scored a goal in a 3–0 away win againstAEL for theGreek Cup.[12]
On 21 July 2016, Fountas, who had been released fromAsteras Tripolis, signed a one (plus one) year contract and officially returned toPanionios.[13] On 1 July 2017, under mutual agreement Panionios solved the player's contract.
On 20 September 2017, as a free agent, Fountas signed a with German club3. Liga clubSG Sonnenhof Großaspach. He was signed by their Greeksporting director, Yiannis Koukoutrigas.[14]
On 14 July 2018, after a year in Germany, Fountas signed a long season contract, with Austrian clubSt. Pölten.[15] He scored four goals in 21 games in his only season.
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On 9 May 2019, Fountas signed a deal with Austrian clubRapid Wien through the summer of 2022, with his St Polten contract due to expire.[16] On 4 August, he scored his first goal for the club in a 2–2 away draw against his previous club and a week later he scored a brace againstSC Rheindorf Altach,[17] contributing to his team's first win of the season. On 29 September, in a 3–3 home draw againstTSV Hartberg, he scored another brace.[18] On 15 December, he scored his third brace of the season, sealing a 3–0 away win againstAdmira Wacker, which included him in theTeam of the Week in the Austrian Bundesliga for matchday 18. Fountas led the club's scoring with 11 goals from 15 matches.[19][20]
On 3 February 2020, Rapid Wien's fans named Fountas as the best player of 2019.[21] On 1 July, he scored in his fifth game in a row, a 3–1 home win against LASK.[22] He finished the2019–20 Austrian Football Bundesliga campaign with 19 goals, to help his club earn a berth in theUEFA Champions League qualifiers. He was the third-highest scorer in the league, trailing onlyPatson Daka (24 goals, RB Salzburg) andShon Weissman (30 goals, Wolfsberger).
On 30 August 2020, in his first official game for the 2020–21 season, he scored a hat trick in a 5–0Austrian Cup win againstTSV St. Johann. On 11 September 2020, Fountas helped his club to winAdmira by scoring a brace at the2020–21 Austrian Football Bundesliga opener.[23] He scored again during a 2–1 defeat toArsenal in the Europa League Group stage on 22 October, capitalising on an error by goalkeeperBernd Leno to put the ball in the net.[24][25]
On 18 January 2021, Fountas spat atLukas Malicsek in the friendly match between his club andAdmira, with the Austrian Bundesliga punishing him for four games.[26] On 4 April, he scored a hat-trick in his team's 8–1 away win againstWolfsberger AC.[27]
On 8 August 2021, Fountas scored in the first half and with two quickfire second half goals in a 3–0 home win againstWolfsberger AC;[28] later in the month he netted in both legs of a2021–22 UEFA Europa League playoffs tie againstFC Zorya Luhansk in a 6–2 aggregate win over the Ukrainian side.[29][30]
On 25 January 2022, according to a report inThe Washington Post, Fountas agreed a three-year contract withMLS clubD.C. United and will become its highest paid player with a reported contract worth a total of $7 million. He was initially not expected to arrive from Rapid Vienna until summer 2022, when his contract expired.[31] On 21 March, it was announced that he would join D.C. United ahead of the summer.[32]
Fountas made his debut for D.C. United on 16 April, in a 2–3 loss againstAustin FC.[33] In his second game and first start for the club, he scored two and assisted a further goal in a 3–2 win over theNew England Revolution.[34] On 4 July, he scored a hat-trick in a 5–3 win atOrlando City SC.[35]
During a match between DC United and Inter Miami on 18 September 2022, Fountas was accused of racially abusing defenderDamion Lowe by calling him then-word.[36][37] He was later substituted, while MLS opened an official investigation into the incident.[38] Fountas denied the allegation.[39] MLS ultimately decided that the accusation by a Miami player who claimed to have heard Fountas saying something to Lowe (who apparently did not hear the comment himself) was "credible" but that it could not be verified.[40]
On 21 July 2023, DC United announced the suspension of Fountas along with teammateNigel Robertha for "possible violations of league policy." Although the reason for the suspension was not mentioned in the club's statement,The Athletic reported that Fountas flung a racial slur at Robertha during a training session and the latter responded by physically attacking Fountas.[41] Subsequent reporting indicated that Robertha attacked Fountas with a foam roller in the locker room following their July 15 away game against the New England Revolution, with Robertha claiming that Fountas used the n-word while arguing on the field before being separated byChristian Benteke.[42] With an investigation ongoing, the team and Fountas mutually agreed to terminate his contract.[43]
Fountas joined Trabzonspor in 2023.[44]
Fountas joined OFI in 2024 signing a two years' contract.[45]
Fountas made his international debut for Greece on 13 June 2015, in aUEFA Euro 2016qualifier away to theFaroe Islands. In the2–1 loss, he came on in the 81st minute forPanagiotis Kone.[46]
Fountas went uncapped for almost exactly five years from September 2015 to 2020. He scored his first international goal on 17 November 2022, coming on forDimitrios Pelkas and equalising in added time at the end of a 2–2 draw away toMalta.[47]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| AEK Athens | 2011–12 | Super League Greece | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | |
| 2012–13 | 27 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | 27 | 4 | |||
| Total | 35 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | 35 | 4 | |||
| Red Bull Salzburg | 2013–14 | Austrian Bundesliga | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FC Liefering | 2013–14 | 2. Liga | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | |
| Grödig (loan) | 2013–14 | Austrian Bundesliga | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | |
| Panionios (loan) | 2014–15 | Super League Greece | 26 | 4 | 7 | 0 | — | 33 | 4 | |
| Asteras Tripolis (loan) | 2015–16 | Super League Greece | 16 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 4[b] | 0 | 24 | 4 |
| Panionios (loan) | 2016–17 | Super League Greece | 19 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 20 | 2 | |
| Sonnenhof Großaspach | 2017–18 | 3. Liga | 14 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 16 | 1 | |
| St. Pölten | 2018–19 | Austrian Bundesliga | 21 | 4 | 1 | 0 | — | 22 | 4 | |
| Rapid Wien | 2019–20 | Austrian Bundesliga | 27 | 19 | 2 | 1 | — | 29 | 20 | |
| 2020–21 | 24 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 5[c] | 1 | 31 | 14 | ||
| 2021–22 | 17 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 11[d] | 3 | 31 | 11 | ||
| Total | 68 | 35 | 7 | 6 | 16 | 4 | 91 | 45 | ||
| D.C. United | 2022 | Major League Soccer | 21 | 12 | 0 | 0 | — | 21 | 12 | |
| 2023 | 17 | 6 | 0 | 0 | — | 17 | 6 | |||
| Total | 38 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 18 | ||
| Trabzonspor | 2023–24 | Süper Lig | 29 | 2 | 6 | 4 | — | 35 | 6 | |
| OFI | 2024–25 | Super League Greece | 28 | 6 | 7 | 3 | — | 35 | 9 | |
| Career total | 307 | 77 | 37 | 16 | 20 | 4 | 364 | 95 | ||
| Greece | |||
| Year | Apps | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2016 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 4 | 1 | |
| 2023 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 19 | 1 | |
Red Bull Salzburg
Individual
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)