Women’s Footballer of the Year contender Banda

Age: 24 Position: Forward Teams: Orlando Pride and Zambia

Barbra Banda was already a global superstar after the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the 2023 World Cup, but her profile hit new heights when Orlando Pride paid Chinese club Shanghai Shengli $740,000 (£581,000) to gain her signature in March.

The second-most expensive women’s signing in history – behind her Zambia team-mate Racheal Kundananji – Banda has lived up to that price tag so far in the NWSL, America’s top league.

Despite joining Orlando Pride late on in the NWSL regular season, the clinical striker has netted 13 goals and sits second in the league’s top scoring chart.

Already the first female player to score successive hat-tricks at the Olympic Games, having done so in 2021, Banda once again dazzled on the Olympic stage this summer.

The Zambia captain scored four goals at Paris 2024, including a first-half hat-trick against Australia, to become Africa’s all time top scorer – male or female – in Olympic football history with 10 goals.

How did it feel playing at the Olympics and scoring a hat-trick?

“Putting on my Zambian shirt, it’s very important for me. When we qualified to the Olympics that was so exciting, for the second time.

“And I managed to score another hat-trick. It was a great moment for me.”

What’s it like playing with Marta for Orlando Pride?

“Honestly, even when I was growing up, I’ve been looking up to Marta and it’s a dream come true to associate with her, to be together with her. She always encourages me.

“She is a legend and she’s a very good person with the way we interact, the way she took me as a younger sister, it’s very awesome.”

Did the transfer fee paid by Orlando Pride add pressure?

“Honestly to me, about the transfer fee, that didn’t even get to me. But what I wanted was to get here and get started with the work because I felt like I needed something to challenge myself in a new country.”

Why set up a foundation in Zambia?

“I came up with an idea of setting up my foundation because, where I come from, it’s a community where we have a lot of talent and we have a lot of girls and boys that have got nothing to do, like they’re just being in the street.

“I have a passion for my community because I know where I’m coming from. I need to empower those girls and boys.

“I don’t feel good seeing someone just being around in the street when I have something little to share with them. So I came up with that idea. To bring those boys and girls together.”

How would she like to be remembered?

“I think I want to be the greatest footballer in the world, so I want to make that name so that everyone can read about me and say, ‘OK, we had Barbara Banda’.”

United States head coach Emma Hayes said: “Banda is the most in-form striker in world football.”

Orlando Pride head coach Seb Hines said: “With Barbra in particular, we knew what we were getting – we were getting a goalscorer.

“We got a player who has an eye for a goal and puts herself in really good positions for goals.

“She finds a way, and it’s brilliant to see.”