Copper Queens captain Barbra Banda and her Orlando Pride teammates will in the early hours of Saturday start their 2024 NWSL playoffs journey.
Banda and the Pride host Chicago Red Stars in the Club’s first-ever home playoff match at 03h00 CAT on Saturday.
Banda who joined Orlando Pride from Chinese Super League side Shanghai Shengli has been a big hit for the club scoring 13 goals and assisting 6 helping the club to a first NWSL Shield triumph.
The former EDF Logroño striker was yesterday named as the Female Sports Personality of the year at the Diamond TV Personality of the Year Awards.
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Coach Seb Hines will look to Banda to lead the charge alongside Brazilian duo of Adriana and the legendary Marta.
Orlando Pride are unbeaten against Red Stars in the last three meetings winning two and drawing one.
The Pride wrapped a historic 2024 regular season with a 3-2 win over Seattle Reign FC on Saturday, breaking multiple NWSL records over the course of the year.
Set to make their first appearance in the postseason since 2017, the Pride finished the regular season and set NWSL records for most points in a single season (60), wins in a single season (18), longest unbeaten streak (24) and longest win streak (8). The Pride also went unbeaten at the friendly confines of Inter&Co Stadium throughout the entire 2024 season and will look to keep that intact in the playoffs.
Eight clubs qualified for the 2024 NWSL Playoffs and, as part of this year’s expanded postseason format, the playoffs now consist of four quarter final matches, eliminating byes to the semifinals. The quarterfinal round will take place the weekend of Nov. 8-10 with matches airing live across CBS, ESPN/ABC and Prime Video platforms.
The semifinal round, set for the weekend of Nov. 16-17, will feature matches on CBS and ESPN/ABC.
The 2024 NWSL Championship, presented by Google Pixel, will take place on Saturday, Nov. 23 and be played at CPKC Stadium, home of the Kansas City Current and the world’s first soccer stadium purpose built for a women’s professional team.
