Barbra Banda, the 24-year-old striker, was overwhelmed with joy when she received the news that she had been selected as the winner of the award. This was after a panel of football experts nominated and voted across the whole globe for the top-performing women athletes based on their impact on and off the field.
She was nominated alongside other elite women football players from all over the globe. The nominees were Aitana Bonmati (Spain, Barcelona), Naomi Girma (USA, San Diego Wave), Caroline Graham Hansen (Norway, Barcelona) and Sophia Smith (USA, Portland Thorns). All the nominees were crucial in their club’s performances for the 2024 season and also at international games.
Who is Barbra Banda?
Banda is a Zambian Footballer who currently plays for the Orlando Pride in the National Women’s Soccer League and the Zambia National Team. Barbra joined the Orlando Pride in March in a historic transfer of $740,000 from a Chinese team, Shanghai Shengli. Her transfer is the second most expensive transfer in women’s football. She signed a four-year contract with Orlando Pride and has proved worthy of the attention and expense the club had to give in order to have her at the club.
Barbra, whose love for the sport was ignited by her father, has grown to identify Ronaldo as her icon. She started playing at the age of eight and since then, she has progressively penetrated the women’s soccer scene on the African continent and globally. She played on the U17 National Team at the World Cup games in 2014.
Barbra was instrumental in the Copper Queens qualification to the 2020 Olympics as she captained the team to its first-ever Olympics games. While at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, she became the first player to score hat tricks in back-to-back Olympic games (Zambia vs. Netherlands 3:10 and Zambia vs. China 4:4). The Zambia Copper heads were once again at the 2024 Paris Olympic games, with Barbra leading the team. Despite the team struggling at the games, she netted a hat trick against Australia. This made her the only woman ever to have three hat tricks at the Olympic games.
Barbra’s time with Orlando Pride is a dream come true as she gets to play with her childhood idol, Marta Vieira da Silva. The two joined efforts alongside the rest of the team to lead Orlando Pride to their first-ever Championship. She was named the Finals MVP.
Which other African Players Have Been Nominated Before?
Barbra becomes the second of only three African women soccer players ever to be nominated for the prestigious award. In 2015, Asisat Oshoala, a Nigerian forward playing with Liverpool in the England Women’s Super League, won the award. She has since joined the National Women’s Soccer League in the USA in 2024, playing for Bay FC.
In 2018, Tabitha Chawinga, a Malawian forward playing for Jiangsu Suning in China, was nominated for the award, but has yet to win. The name Chawinga probably rings bells as she is the sister to the reigning Most Valuable Player, Temwa Chawinga, in the National Women’s Soccer League in the USA.
What the Award Means
Barbra took to her social media to express gratitude to BBC Sport. She tweeted, “I am out of words to describe the feeling. All I can say is thank you to everyone, the organizers at BBC Sports, the experts who chose me for the nominee shortlist and each and everyone of you who voted. Thank you.”
Barbra has a charity organization back home that focuses on girls and women’s empowerment through sports. She also pledged 1% of her salary to Common Goal, an organization focused on football-related charity work. She is relentless towards the development and growth of the sport, especially in her home country. Through her organization, she uses football as a tool to empower women and girls as a way to keep them in school, avoid early pregnancies, and make a livelihood off the sport. The award indeed shines more light on a woman doing great in her field to uplift more women.
Did You Know That She Was Nominated for the 2024 Ballon d’Or?
The phenomenal athlete has had a flow of events this year, from having a historic transfer to scoring 12 goals for the Orlando Pride in 12 games and becoming the only soccer player to have hat tricks at the Olympics. Her nomination for the Ballon d’Or comes as no surprise as it is a prestigious award given to honor a football player who has had the best performance from the year’s season.
