The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) announced on Saturday that Swiss trainer Nora Hauptle will take over as head coach of the Copper Queens on a three-year contract, succeeding Bruce Mwape, whose six-year tenure with the team had come to an end.
Hauptle has been tasked by FAZ to elevate the team’s performance, with a focus on winning trophies, including the upcoming 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) in Morocco from July 5 to 26, 2025.
The 41-year-old Swiss left Ghana after leading the team to their first WAFCON appearance since 2018. Since her appointment as head coach of the Black Queens in January 2023, she went nine games unbeaten before finally suffering her first defeat, a 0-1 loss to Zambia in the 2024 Olympic qualifiers.
Surprisingly, Hauptle decided to leave Ghana and revealed that it wasn’t an easy decision to make.
“It wasn’t easy to give up the project,” she told 20 minutes, a Swiss publication. “Basically, my contract was running out at the end of the year and we had discussions. But there were a few pieces of the puzzle that were not clear, which were relevant to my success.”
She added, “I can’t just make compromises. But nothing happened; we are parting on good terms and with a lot of respect for each other.”
Copper Queens have not been convincing- Hauptle
Hauptle takes over a team that is widely regarded as one of the most promising, if not the best in Africa right now. Mwape qualified the Copper Queens for the 2018, 2022, and 2025 Africa Cups. He also took them to the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, as well as the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in New Zealand and Australia.
The former SC Sand and Israel women’s national team coach admits that she is aware that she is taking on a massive task in Zambia, but she remains ambitious as she targets a successful campaign at the WAFCON in July.
“I’m excited by the team’s enormous potential. Recently, they have regularly participated in finals, but have not yet been able to perform convincingly,” says Häuptle. “I know what we need to do as a team.”
She also understands the responsibility that comes with coaching two of the world’s most expensive female footballers, Barbra Banda and Racheal Kundananji. “A big challenge and personalities that I am very much looking forward to,” she admitted.
READ MORE: Bruce Mwape to be re-assigned to junior teams—FAZ
