After starting his career in his home country with Multibanka Rīga, RSK Dižvanagi Rēzekne and FK Blāzma Rēzekne Kurakins then moved to Scotland, signing for Celtic, where he played in the club's youth side.

During his time at Celtic, he went out on loan to Brechin City in April 2010[2] and to Stranraer in February 2011.

[3] After a spell with FK Ventspils, Kurakins returned to Scotland in July 2015, signing for Hamilton Academical.

[5] He then returned to Latvia, where he spent several months training with Riga FC,[6] and joined the club in 2017.

[7] Kurakins made his first international appearance in a friendly against Macedonia on 5 March 2014, playing the entire match.