Barbra Banda is at the peak of her career.

Now the Orlando Pride’s leading attacking force and a star of the NWSL, the Zambian striker has received her third consecutive nomination for the Ballon d'Or.

However, behind the lethal goalscorer who now dominates the penalty areas lies a journey marked by complex struggles, courageous decisions and a process of self-improvement that nearly brought her career to a permanent halt.

This is the story of how an athlete managed to turn adversity into the fuel needed to conquer the world’s elite and become one of the sport’s leading figures in Zambia.

Her beginnings in the ring and the move to professional football

Before devoting herself entirely to football, Banda was a professional boxer with Oriental Quarries Boxing Promotions in Zambia.

She even built up an unbeaten record of five fights (four by knockout). Nobody wanted to fight her.

“However, amateur boxers refused to fight me because I hadn’t lost a single match,” she recalled in an interview with the BBC.

As a young woman, Barbra trained on a shoestring in Zambia, combining her two passions: football and boxing.

However, with the introduction of compulsory military service in her country, she had to decide what was best for her future and opted for football.

“I had to think about it a lot. I stuck with football because boxing is a short career. I chose football because I think it will take me somewhere else. If I concentrate and play to the best of my ability, I think I’ll go far,” she explained.

That was how, in 2018, after putting in a superb performance for the Zambian youth team at an international tournament, he caught the eye of European clubs.

EDF Logroñés made him an offer and Banda decided to accept it, taking his talent to the north of Spain. That was how it all began.

He spent one and a half seasons in Logroño, until he decided to make a financial leap to Chinese football. Banda was already able to make a living from football.

The CAF’s rejection

Having already established herself as a key player for Shanghai Shengli and the Zambian national team, she was forced to endure the most bitter episode of her life.

In the summer of 2022, at the height of her career after scoring two consecutive hat-tricks at the Tokyo Olympics, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) excluded her from the Africa Cup of Nations.

Why? Her natural testosterone levels exceeded the limits set by the African body. Consequently, the Zambian Football Association decided to withdraw her from the competition to avoid the risk of sanctions.

Overnight, one of African football’s finest strikers was barred from representing her country.

Her sporting career seemed to be falling apart…

FIFA’s intervention

Banda’s exclusion did not last forever thanks to a change in regulatory jurisdiction, when FIFA took direct control of the regulations ahead of the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

World football’s governing body reviewed the case, updated its eligibility frameworks to prevent discrimination and authorised her official participation with the Zambian national team.

As she had committed no doping offences or disciplinary breaches, FIFA determined that Banda met the requirements to compete in FIFA tournaments and the Olympic Games.

Her return to the international stage could not have been more impressive: she captained Zambia at the 2023 World Cup and scored the 1,000th goal in the history of the Women’s World Cup.

Banda was already a shining example of resilience and had become one of the leading figures in sport in her country.

The NWSL’s million-dollar gamble

Having proven her worth on the world stage, the Orlando Pride in the United States decided to make a major investment in her talent in 2024.

The NWSL franchise paid $740,000 to Shanghai Shengli to secure her signing, a record-breaking sum that redefined the global market.

Banda went from being excluded from a competition to becoming the second most expensive signing in the history of women’s football.

The 5 most expensive transfers in the history of women’s football

  1. Racheal Kundananji: From Madrid CFF to Bay FC (2024) – $860,000

  2. Barbra Banda: From Shanghai Shengli to Orlando Pride (2024) – $740,000

  3. Mayra Ramírez: From Levante to Chelsea (2024) – $535,000

  4. Tarciane: From Corinthians to Houston Dash (2024) – $510,000

  5. Keira Walsh: From Manchester City to Barcelona (2022) – $470,000

The American club’s investment paid off immediately, as Banda was able to demonstrate her full potential in an elite league and help secure titles.

Today, she has received her third consecutive nomination for the Ballon d'Or (2024–2025–2026) and has secured her place amongst the world’s best strikers.

The power of never giving up.