Barbra Banda Has What It Takes to Make the Orlando Pride an NWSL Dynasty | OneFootball

After her first season in the National Women’s Soccer League, Barba Banda went home smiling. It was a successful season by almost every measure, with Banda named MVP of the championship match after leading the Orlando Pride to their first-ever championship and NWSL Shield.

“The offseason was short, but I tried to spend much of my time with my family, and everyone at home back in Zambia,” Banda says. “They were so excited about [my success], there’s been so much encouragement. The Zambian people are so happy and proud of us.”

The Pride have historically never been a contender in the NWSL, even with star-studded rosters that included Alex Morgan and Ali Krieger. The team often found themselves at or near the bottom of the standings since joining the league as an expansion side in 2016.

“The culture that Seb [Hines] has created, if you have a good culture you can win games even when you don’t deserve to win games because you have those people who have your back no matter what,” said Pride defender Carson Pickett at the NWSL championship last year. “You trust the process, the coaches, the GMs, that’s the biggest thing I see now.”

When Banda joined the club in 2024 for a transfer fee that was the second-most expensive ever at the time, it was the final piece in the puzzle for a club that had been slowly building up not only a roster but a lasting club culture that could catapult the team into a dynasty.

“Barbra Banda is one of those generational players who takes your team from great to unstoppable,” says NWSL analyst and former Orlando Pride player Darian Jenkins. “Opponents have to change the way they defend, build out and play against Orlando, because of Banda.”

In 2023, there were glimpses of what this Pride team could become. With Hines at the helm, the team finished seventh in the NWSL table, missing out on the playoffs to NJ/NY Gotham FC by goal differential—a blow, but a motivating factor for the rising club.

“We were so close last year,” said Pride midfielder Summer Yates at the 2024 NWSL championship. “Now, we just want that respect in the league. We want to be known as not the bottom-of-the-table Orlando Pride, we want to be known as deserving to be at the top.”

The Zambian international took home MVP honors in last year's NWSL championship. / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

With so many pieces already in place, such as Brazilian legend Marta and standout young defender Emily Sams, Banda’s addition gave the team a prolific goalscorer who frustrates every backline in the NWSL.

“As a defender we’re constantly trying to anticipate what attackers are doing, [Banda] has a lot of really great skills in her locker, and certainly one of them is even if you do anticipate what she’s going to do, sometimes she still is able to do it,” says Gotham defender Tierna Davidson.

“It’s just being intelligent, physical and trying to not give her a lot of room to breathe. She’s a very dynamic, intelligent player so it’s definitely a good challenge, but that’s something that’s really exciting about this league—every game you go into as a defender, it’s a different challenge.”

In 2024, Banda played 22 matches, scoring 13 goals and notching six assists, making her the second-highest scorer in the league behind eventual MVP winner Temwa Chawinga. For those watching closely, it's not just Banda’s ability to find the back of the net that makes her a game changer for the Pride, but her entire profile as a player that makes her the first circled on scouting reports of opposing teams.

“It frustrates me when she’s minimized to just her speed and physicality,” Jenkins says. “It’s her tactical movement, her cheekiness 1-v-1, her unselfishness, her vision to combine with teammates, her resilience and her work rate on and off the ball. She’s unstoppable.”

With two goals and an assist over three matches to start the 2025 campaign, Banda is on her way to repeating or exceeding her personal success in '24, all with the intent to lead her team to yet another trophy-winning season. She knows, however, that this year is not last year for the Pride, and it will take everything they’ve got to find that success once more.

Even when Orlando struggles, the team somehow finds a way. In the club’s 2–0 win away against Gotham, the home team was certainly the better side on the stat sheet, dominating in shots and possession. It was the Pride’s grit, mentality and talented roster which propelled them to a win despite the odds.

“We knew that it was going to be a tough game, but we set our standards and our tone high,” Banda says. “It’s very important for us to get three points away.”

Going into an international break, the Pride sit atop the NWSL standings with nine points from three wins in three matches, but there is still plenty of work to be done. With the Kansas City Current matched on points but behind on goal differential, along with the patent unpredictability of the NWSL, it will take not just Banda, but the entire roster to bring another trophy to Orlando.

“It’s very different [from one season to the next],” Banda says. “We expect tough games, but we still want to maintain the same tone we left on last season.”