This article is part of the Guardian’s Women’s World Cup 2023 Experts’ Network, a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 32 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from two countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 20 July.
Overview
The Zambia women’s side is one of Africa’s fastest-rising teams, having been the continent’s only women’s football representatives at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The Copper Queens also reached the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations semi-finals in Morocco, which secured their qualification for a Women’s World Cup debut in 2023.
Women’s football is still developing in Zambia. However the national team has achieved significant success despite the challenges, including third place at the 2022 Wafcon. The majority of the players have been employed full-time by the air force and army to play football for the two most prominent women’s military clubs in Zambia: Red Arrows and Green Buffaloes.
Despite having a young squad, with some of the local players earning less than $50 a month at their clubs, Zambia defeated top-ranked teams such as Senegal, Tunisia and Nigeria at Wafcon in Morocco. Their only defeat was by the eventual tournament winners, South Africa, in the semi-finals.
During the tournament, Zambia were missing their top strikers, Barbra Banda and Racheal Kundananji, who were disqualified from competing due to high testosterone levels, according to the Zambian FA. Following Wafcon, Zambia won the 2022 Cosafa Women’s Championship for the first time with Banda finishing as the top scorer with 10 goals. She was also named player of the tournament.
However Zambia have struggled at times this year, including a 10-2 aggregate loss to South Korea across back-to-back friendlies in April. Banda and Kundananji are still trying to adjust to playing as a pair since their return to the squad, with the coach, Bruce Mwape, admitting to BolaNews: “There is a lot of individual play upfront, everyone wants to show that they are stars. We are currently working on it.”
Kundananji finished the 2022-23 season as the second-highest goalscorer in the Spanish league, with 25 goals for Madrid CFF. Banda scored nine goals in six games for Shanghai Shengli in the Chinese Super League. And in the pre-tournament friendly against Germany it all seemed to come together, Banda scoring a 3-2 winner in the 12th minute of added time.
The coach
Bruce Mwape took over as head coach in 2018 but his tenure has been rocked by allegations of sexual misconduct. According to Andrew Kamanga, the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) president, the investigation was referred to the police and Fifa to ensure that it is not accused of “taking sides”. There has not been a verdict yet and Mwape denies any wrongdoing. He has led the Zambia women’s team to the Africa Cup of Nations twice and now the World Cup. He has previously been criticised for the team’s poor defending, but he has stated: “We are working on improving our defence, and we will be fine at the World Cup.”
Star player
During Tokyo 2020, Barbra Banda made history by becoming the first woman in Olympic history to score consecutive hat-tricks. Despite the Copper Queens’ underwhelming performance, the Shanghai Shengli forward stood out as one of the most exciting players at the tournament. On her aims going into her debut World Cup, Banda told FAZ media: “We need to go there with full force and the mentality of winning.”
Rising star
Evarine Susan Katongo is widely regarded as Zambia’s next big star. The 20-year-old midfielder began her career at the Luyando Foundation in Lusaka’s shanty township of Chinika. She quickly rose through the ranks, becoming a key figure in the national squad at the age of 18.
Katongo is best known for her hold-up play and dribbling abilities. However, she has had some issues at club level, having not played for six months after Wafcon due to contractual disputes between Luyando and the Zambia Institute for Sustainable Development (ZISD FC), which were later resolved. This hasn’t slowed her progress, and Katongo stood out in a friendly match against Tanzania at a packed 10,000-seat Woodlands Stadium in Lusaka.
Did you know?
Banda, the Copper Queens captain, was a professional boxer with Oriental Quarries Boxing Promotion from 2015 to 2017. She competed in the bantamweight division five times, winning all of her fights, four by knockout.
Standing of women’s football in Zambia
Women’s football has improved significantly since the late 2000s, becoming more popular among Zambians, with the national age-group teams now regularly competing in international tournaments. The FAZ launched the Women’s Super Division in 2021, resulting in an increase in the number of women’s clubs. Despite the fact that the league is solely sponsored by FAZ and is not broadcast on television, it has produced several players who are now playing professional football outside of Zambia. This pathway has changed the lives of some international players, with the top earners in the squad taking home over $5,000 per month. During the Women’s World Cup trophy tour, the FAZ president, Andrew Kamanga, said: “I wish to appeal to our partners in the corporate world to support women’s football.”
Realistic aim at the World Cup?
The majority of the Copper Queens have never played professional-level football and the technical staff are also adapting to international standards. The team’s primary goal should be to gain experience, while progress from Group C (containing Japan, Spain and Costa Rica) would be a huge bonus. Banda told FAZ media that the World Cup is a “huge task, but the mentality of being a player is that we need to be positive every time”.
The Zambia team guide was written by Calvin Kaumba Chikenge for BolaNews.
