Zambia captain Barbra Banda named to 2025 FIFPRO Women’s World 11

Zambia national team captain Barbra Banda has been named to the 2025 FIFPRO Women’s World 11, an annual global player award voted on exclusively by players, with over 26,000 professional footballers from 68 countries voting in this year’s edition.

Banda, who plays for Orlando Pride, who compete in the National Women’s Soccer League, made history last year as the first African player ever named to the FIFPRO Women’s World 11, a feat she followed this year by becoming the first African to earn the honor in back-to-back seasons.

Fresh off her 2024 NWSL Championship MVP performance, Banda continued to establish herself as one of the league’s premier strikers in 2025. Despite missing the second half of the season due to injury, she scored eight goals in just 16 matches, which led the Orlando Pride and ranked among the NWSL’s top 10 scorers.

Banda currently undergoing rehabilitation after injury

On May 24, she became the first Pride player to record a hat trick, netting three first-half goals against the Utah Royals. That performance also marked the first hat trick by an African international in NWSL history.

In August, the Zambia native was placed on the Season Ending Injury List after suffering a full-thickness avulsion of her right adductor longus tendon during a road match against the Kansas City Current. She is currently undergoing rehabilitation.

According to the Orlando Pride website, players can vote for any of their peers for the World 11. Although the voting tool contains a guidance list with approximately 250 names, players are able to add other names if not already mentioned on the list.

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