Fresh from helping Orlando Pride lift their first-ever National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) championship trophy, Barbra Banda has been voted the 2024 BBC Women’s Player of the Year.
The Zambian, 24, garnered more votes than the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmati of Spain and Barcelona, Naomi Girma of the United States, who plays for the San Diego Wave, Caroline Graham Hansen of Norway and Barcelona, and Sophia Smith of the United States and Portland Thorns.
Banda becomes only the second African woman to win the award, following Nigeria’s Asisat Oshoala in 2015.
In 22 NWSL regular season games, the Orlando Pride striker recorded 13 goals and six assists, including four braces to help the Pride win the Shield.
She led the Pride to the championship title by scoring four goals in three NWSL playoffs, including the game-winning goal against the Washington Spirit on Sunday.
On the international stage, Banda added another three-goal performance to her resume at the 2024 Paris games, this time in an 11-goal thriller against Australia that finished 6-5.
Following that historic hat-trick, Banda became the first female football player to score three hat-tricks at an Olympic Games, putting her in strong contention for this year’s CAF award.
This was after she scored hat-tricks in consecutive games against the Republic of China and the Netherlands in 2021.
Her current Olympic goal tally is nine, five fewer than Cristiane’s record of 14.
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