The Zambian women’s national team has mastered a historic 3-1 win over Costa Rica as they exit the FIFA Women’s World Cup on an impressive note. A spirited performance saw the Copper Queens come out victorious at Waikato Stadium on Monday.
It was the Copper Queens that drew first blood when Lushomo Mweemba dispatched her well-executed volley past Daniel Solera from an Avell Chitundu corner. The center-back etched her name into the history books as the first ever Zambian, male or female, to score in a FIFA World Cup.
Zambia’s opener was also the fastest goal scored in the current edition at only two minutes and eleven seconds. The African side continued to pile up the pressure against Costa Rica, and they were eventually rewarded with a second at 31 minutes.
Barbra Banda was finally about to get her moment after being fouled in the Costa Rican penalty box and winning a penalty for the Copper Queens. The Zambian talisman’s eventual spot-kick goal was the 1000th goal in the history of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The Copper Queens went into the halftime interval with a comfortable 2-0 lead against the South Americans.
Heartbreak for Costa Rica
Costa Rica came firing on all cylinders after the break, as they quickly grabbed a lifeline courtesy of Melissa Herrera. The Zambian shot-stopper, Catherine Musonda, was in no man’s land when she was beaten by Valeria del Campo in an aerial duel.
A few minutes later, Las Ticas were on course to grab a second when they appeared to win a penalty after Musonda raced off her line and fouled Priscila Chinchila. However, after a VAR review, match referee Bouchra Karboubi spotted an offside on Scott Richardson, who contested with Susan Banda for the ball. It was Banda’s clumsy pass that got Catherine Musonda in trouble.
Zambia appeared to have lost the composure they showed in the first half when Musesa’s error saw Costa Rica grab another goal, which was ruled offside.
Rachael Kundananji broke Costa Rican hearts when she was sent through on goal by Barbra Banda to make it 3-1 to Zambia against the run of play. That rounded off a historic performance from Zambia as they exited the world stage with an enormous win against Las Ticas.
Despite two humbling defeats to Japan and Spain, the Copper Queens will be proud of their 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Zambia finishes third in Group C, three points behind Japan and Spain on nine and six points, respectively.
