Where have you gone, Barbra Banda of the Orlando Pride? | OneFootball

The Orlando Pride exited the playoffs earlier than they’d hoped. But just as great a blow was losing star scorer Barbra Banda.

The omens threatening the Orlando Pride season multiplied late in the NWSL season. The bad feelings started when striker Barbra Banda suffered a season-ending injury.

During a match with the Kansas City Current, Banda suffered a hip-abductor injury. The Aug. 16 game ended in a draw.

She got entangled in the 14th minute with Current Forward Temwa Chawinga, after which she limped off the field. She had appeared in every Pride match at that point and led the team with eight goals.

Aug 16, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Orlando Pride forward Barbra Banda (22) and Kansas City Current defender Hailie Mace (4) compete for a ball during the first half of the match at CPKC Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kylie Graham-Imagn Images | Kylie Graham-Imagn Images

Since joining the team in 2024, she scored 25 goals and seven assists in 41 matches across all competitions. She earned her second Ballon d’Or nomination, was a finalist for NWSL MVP, and won NWSL Best XI First Team honors.

She remains one of the NWSL’s premier strikers and a respected, creative leader of the Orlando Pride. But her most outstanding trait is her ability to focus and inspire her teammates while under verbal attack by the Pride’s opponents’ supporters, and even in the media.

It erupted late in 2024. That was the year Banda scored the lone goal that brought the Orlando Pride home with the NWSL championship. She was awarded BBC Footballer of the Year. Then the Harry Potter author, J.K. Rowling, replied on X, amplifying a criticism of the award.

She described this honor as spitting in the faces of women. It started a brief, strange trip that continued in the stands of a few opponent stadiums.

The X exchange mentioned a 2022 incident in which Banda and three other players were kept off the Zambia roster for the Africa Women’s Cup of Nations due to their confederation’s stringent testosterone level testing requirements.

These requirements exceed those of the Olympics, where Banda became the leading striker for her national team.

Throughout this episode, Barbra Banda never retaliated against her critics on social media or in the stands. She stayed focused on helping her teammates and scoring goals.

It will be great to get her back on the pitch in 2026 doing just that. Supporters will stay focused on it.