USWNT beware! Zambia is a rising power in women's soccer as big-money NWSL signings eye Olympic shock

It's not been easy for Zambia to get to this point. Most, if not all, of the players in this team spent their childhoods fighting against the stigma of girls playing football, one that many of them believe is at least starting to change as their success sets a positive example.

The opportunities for players in Africa are nothing like what they are for those in Europe, for example, either. Domestic leagues are rarely scouted and so it is often from international competitions, which are not easy to qualify for, that these players put themselves on the radar of overseas clubs.

Regular champions of lower-quality European leagues, who are thus participants in at least the UEFA Women’s Champions League’s qualifying rounds, have tapped into the under-used market in Africa over the years, able to guarantee that big competition experience and exposure to exciting prospects. But even that opportunity can be tough, as Kundananji’s own experiences show.

“Being from Africa, you see an opportunity,” Kundananji told the Guardian earlier this year, discussing the move to Kazakhstan, to play for BIIK Kazygurt, that she made in 2019. “It might not make sense when you begin the journey, but you have to start from somewhere. I saw that they were in the Champions League, which was my dream to play in, so when I saw the opportunity, I had to grab it.”

There, the forward was able to catch the eye by making 11 appearances in the UWCL and scoring four goals - including one against Bayern Munich. However, it was not an easy experience. “I lived in Shymkent, a small city, for three years. I can say that it was not that friendly for people like us,” she explained. “Black people are not common there. When they see black people on the street it’s very different there to how it is in other European cities and countries.

“A soldier is always a soldier. A soldier will always survive in any situation. When you know what you want, you have to learn to cope with things. I wanted to go to a bigger league so I just had to endure everything and use this small opportunity. To get good things, you have to face a lot of challenges.”

Fortunately, Kundananji’s perseverance paid off. She secured a transfer to Eibar in 2021, choosing to move to Spain’s more competitive league despite BIIK Kazygurt offering her five-times her current salary to stay, and then to a Madrid CFF side battling towards the top end of the division. It was in the capital that she scored 33 goals in 43 games to interest Bay FC, who broke the world-record to bring her to the States.

“We are all proud of her, her team-mates on the national team, and we’re pushing everyone to push harder for those kinds of deals and records,” Banda said of Kundananji earlier this year, in an interview with The Athletic. “At the end of the day, we are putting Africa on the map.”

Those comments came after her own new chapter in the U.S. was confirmed, following four years in the mysterious but lucrative Chinese Women’s Super League. It was there, for Shanghai Shengli, that Banda was playing when the last Olympics came around, having initially come to the fore by scoring 15 goals in 28 games for Logrono in Spain.

When the Zambia captain bagged back-to-back hat-tricks at Tokyo 2020, becoming the first woman to do so, fans across the globe were desperate to see her return to one of the sport’s top leagues. Despite playing in a division that was near-impossible to watch outside of China, Banda’s profile was huge and that tournament was a big reason why.

Nothing showed that better than the reception she received when she landed in Orlando. A crowd of Zambians and fans of the Orlando Pride, their respective green and purple colours creating a vibrant scene for the NWSL’s newest addition, greeted Banda when she touched down in Florida, as did cheers, singing and signs bearing her name. It was a unique sight, but Banda has quickly shown that she was worth such fanfare.

Having torn up the league in China, winning the Golden Boot in 2020, she has been able to translate that form to the U.S. with incredible ease, signing off for this summer’s Olympics having scored 12 goals in as many games – tied with Temwa Chawinga, the Kansas City Current’s Malawi star, at the top of the scoring charts. Those goals have helped the Orlando Pride, a perennial under-achiever in the NWSL, remain unbeaten through the first 16 games of the season.

Unsurprisingly, Banda is brimming with confidence, so much so that she believes she can do even better at this Olympics than last time - better than the two hat-tricks which saw her tie the record for most goals by a player at a single Games.

Once she said as much on a press call in Orlando, she was reminded of the incredible things she achieved in Japan and asked, then, if her aim is to hit back-to-back-to-back hat-tricks. Would that satisfy her?! “I think from the last time, I learnt a lot because I know it's very competitive and the teams there, they are playing high level football,” Banda responded, after a big laugh. “Coming here to play with Orlando, I think I've improved in so many areas that I'm going to try to implement in my national squad.

“At the moment, I'm not looking at the past Olympics that I played. I'm going there with a different mind. I have to forget about the past, the goals that I scored. I have to focus on the present and what I'm going to do now, because I know I expect a lot, especially with the national team, but it's always about teamwork.”

When interviewed on the Attacking Third, Banda opened up on some of the obstacles that exist when trying to achieve that further success she, and the whole team, craves. "We are lacking a lot of experience,” she said. “We have a lot of young players coming into the team and they are fitting in so well, but you need experience, so we are growing up together.”

That much was evident again when Zambia went to a first Women’s World Cup last summer. Despite the talents of Kundananji, of Banda, of Grace Chanda - who has also joined the Orlando Pride - the Copper Queens just lack a little bit of know-how on the biggest stage.

There are perhaps two main areas to improve on in performances too, which experience naturally helps with. The first comes in defence, where the team leaks too many goals. While Zambia has top-level talent in attack, it needs to be better organised at the other end of the pitch or the elite nations it will face in France will break through with ease – as Spain and Japan, 5-0 and 4-0 winners, respectively, did at last year’s World Cup.

The other area to work on is how to cope when teams cut off the service to Banda, whether it is getting the ball to another dangerous forward, Banda herself problem-solving to ensure she still gets involved, or a bit of both. “It's all about teamwork,” the Orlando star said. “It's not about me as an individual, because even last [Olympics], scoring those goals, it's not by myself, it's the help from the team.”

Despite these flaws, there’s no getting away from the fact that Zambia will present a real threat this summer. Though eliminated in the group stages at Tokyo 2020, the Copper Queens scored more goals in that first phase than eight of the 12 nations involved – and that frontline is better and more experienced three years on.

That’s reason for concern for a U.S. team that hasn’t looked its best in front of goal recently, as any conceded at the other end will only heap pressure on the attack to sort itself out. It’ll test an Australia side that reached the semi-finals at the Games three years ago and at the World Cup last summer, but has some injury concerns coming in - most notably, in this case, left-back Steph Catley. And there will be some anxieties for those following Germany, which has struggled for clean sheets as of late, defeated 3-0 by Iceland earlier this month before losing holding midfielder Lena Oberdorf to a devastating knee injury.

“Our generation is the chosen generation, just expect more records to be broken,” Kundananji told the Guardian, marking everyone’s card when it comes to the talent emerging from Zambia and other areas of the continent. “This is the generation that will show that there is great talent in Africa.” In France this summer, the Copper Queens have a great opportunity to further live up to that billing.