The International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) officially crowned the most prolific goal scorers of the just-concluded calendar year.
Veronica Corral, who is on the books of Mexican outfit Pachuca, bagged the IFFHS Women’s World Best Goalscorer accolade after scoring 44 goals for club and country in 2024.
She is the latest recipient of the honor, succeeding Temwa Chawinga, who returned a staggering 63 goals in 2023. The Malawian striker could only muster 24 goals this time around.
Meanwhile, Bayern Munich star Lea Schüller amassed 14 goals for the national team and in international club competitions, replacing Copper Queens skipper Barbra Banda as the IFFHS Women’s World Best International Goalscorer. The latter’s goal tally for the Zambian women’s national team dropped from 15 goals in 2023 to eight goals in 2024.
Banda and Chawinga were a cut above the rest in the Chinese Women’s Super League and rightly earned transfers to the United States for Orlando Pride and KC Current, respectively. Despite battling against much improved opposition, the Southern African duo still proved to be unplayable.
2025 Busy For Barbra And Chawinga
Chawinga emerged as the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) top scorer, breaking Sam Kerr’s record of 18 goals by scoring an incredible 21 goals in her debut season. Barbra Banda was equally sensational, netting 17 goals, including a record-breaking four goals for a single NWSL Championship playoffs edition. She inspired Orlando Pride to their first ever NWSL Shield and Championship titles.
The honor of the 2024 BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year was bestowed upon Barbra Banda, who also finished as runners up in FIFA’s ‘The Best’ ranking, behind Aitana Bonmati.
2025 will be a busy year for the Copper Queens captain, who will be leading Zambia at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (AfCON) in Morocco after controversially missing out on the previous tournament. Chawinga, on the other hand, will aim to get Malawi past Congo in the February qualifiers as they eye qualification to the 2026 edition of the continental showpiece.
READ ALSO: “We Can Be Champions” – Power Dynamos Club President Declares.
