Zambian female Football sensation Barbra Banda has been removed from the Season Ending Injury list by her club Orlando Pride.
Banda will be available for selection for the Orlando Pride’s home Opener against Seattle Reign on Sunday, March 15th, the club has confirmed.
The Copper Queens sustained an injury and was subbed off 15 minutes into Orlando Pride’s 0-0 away draw to leaders Kansas City Current in the NWSL in August last year.
“Orlando Pride announced today that forward Barbra Banda has been removed from the Season Ending Injury list. Banda will be made available for selection in the Pride’s upcoming Home Opener, presented by Orlando Health, against Seattle Reign FC. That match is set to kick off at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 14 at Inter&Co Stadium.
Banda was placed on the Season Ending Injury list in August of last season.”
Fresh off her 2024 NWSL Championship MVP performance, Banda continued to establish herself as one of the league’s premier strikers in 2025.
Despite missing the second half of the season due to injury, she scored eight goals in just 16 matches, which led the Orlando Pride and ranked among the NWSL’s top 10 scorers. On May 24, she became the first Pride player to record a hat trick, netting three first-half goals against the Utah Royals.
That performance also marked the first hat trick by an African international in NWSL history. Banda was also named to the FIFPRO Women’s World 11 for a second consecutive season.
The former Shanghai Shengli forward was also ranked as the 14th best female football player in the world at the 2025 Women’s Ballon d’Or.
It marked the second time the Orlando Pride striker was nominated for the prestigious award, finishing just outside the top ten for the second year in a row.
Bring us some jerseys.