The Zambia women's national association football team represents

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

, participating in qualifying tournaments for the FIFA Women's World Cup and other African-based competitions. It made its debut in the

2023 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international women's association football, football championship contested by List of women's national association football teams, women's nat ...

, becoming the first landlocked nation in Africa to qualify for a senior World Cup in either men's or women's soccer.

History

Zambia became an official women's national team in 1983, and was one of the first African women's national football teams to exist on the continent. In 2003, the kit for the team was provided as a result of a sponsorship deal with

Umbro Umbro is an English sports equipment manufacturer founded in 1924 in Wilmslow, Cheshire, and based in Manchester. They specialise in football and rugby sportswear featuring their ''Double Diamond'' logo. Umbro products are sold in over 100 c ...

who first agreed to sponsor the

Zambia national football team The Zambia national football team represents Zambia in association football and is governed by the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ). During the 1980s, they were known as the KK 11, after founding president Dr. Kenneth Kaunda ("KK") who rule ...

. The team's official kit colours include green shorts, a green jersey and green socks. Some matches were played in 1994, for qualification for

1995 FIFA Women's World Cup The 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup, the second edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, was held in Sweden and won by Norway women's national football team, Norway, who became the first European nation to win the Women's World Cup. The tournament fea ...

. Zambia played in a 5 November 1994 World Cup qualifier against South Africa in South Africa, where Zambia lost 3–5. In the return match in

Lusaka, Zambia Lusaka ( ) is the capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was about 3.3 million ...

on 17 November 1994, Zambia lost with a score of 2–6. Between these games and 2001, it did not play in any FIFA sanctioned matches. It participated in the 2002 COSAFA Cup women's tournament in

Harare, Zimbabwe Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metropolitan province. The city is situa ...

. It was in Group A. It beat the

Malawi women's national football team The Malawi women's national football team represents Malawi in women's football at international level. It is overseen by the Football Association of Malawi. In 2020 the nickname Scorchers was adopted for the team. Previously it was referred t ...

8–0 on 20 April. It played against

Zimbabwe women's national football team The Zimbabwe women's national football team represents Zimbabwe in international football. It is controlled by the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZFA), the governing body for football in Zimbabwe. The team represented Zimbabwe at the 2016 Summe ...

on 22 April where Zambia lost 0–4. On 23 April, it beat

Lesotho women's national football team The Lesotho women's national football team, also known affectionately as Mehalalitoe ("The Beautiful Flowers"), represents Lesotho in international women's football. Governed by the Lesotho Football Association (LFA), the team has demonstrated ...

3–1. It finished second in its group. On 26 April, it lost to

South Africa women's national football team The South Africa women's national football team represents South Africa in women's international soccer and is run by the South African Football Association, the governing body for Soccer in South Africa. Nicknamed Banyana Banyana (The Girls i ...

1–3 in the semifinals. It went on to beat

Mozambique women's national football team The Mozambique women's national football team is the national women's football team of Mozambique and is overseen by the Mozambican Football Federation. Notably, they are the third national women's football team in Sub-Saharan Africa to ever in ...

1–0 in the third place game, with Julia Siame scoring the only goal in the 60th minute. Later that year, in a regional qualifying match for a different tournament, on 21 September in

against South Africa, the team lost 1–4 after being down 0–2 at the half. In the return match in South Africa on 12 October 2002, it lost 0–4. By 2003, it was ranked the 106th best women's national team by FIFA. In 2004, its rank dropped to 113. That year, the team was coached by Cephias Katongo, who was coaching the

Zambia national under-17 football team The Zambia national under-17 football team is the youth football team which represents Zambia founded in 1929. The team, nicknamed the Junior Chipolopolo, represents the country in international under-17 matches and is controlled by the Football As ...

and a top-level club team at the same time. In 2004,

had committed to play a match against Zambia before Zimbabwe took on Tanzania in Dar e Salaam and this did not happen because of organizational problems by

Zimbabwe Football Association The Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) is the governing body of association football, football in Zimbabwe. It is responsible for organising national football competitions in Zimbabwe and managing the Zimbabwe national football teams. The curr ...

. In 2005, the team's FIFA ranking was unchanged and remained at 113, with it playing in no FIFA recognised matches. The following year, in 2006, Zambia world ranking dropped down to 126. That year, the head coach was George Chikokola. In March 2006, the team played a home and away set of against Congo DR. On Saturday, 11 March 2006 in a game played in Lubumbashi, Congo DR won 3–0 against Zambia. Congo DR led 1–0 at the half. On Saturday, 25 March 2006 in a game played in Chingola, Zambia lost 2–3, a score that remained the same from half time, against Congo DR. In 2006,

hosted a regional

COSAFA Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (; ), officially abbreviated as COSAFA, is an association of the football playing nations in Southern Africa. It is affiliated to CAF. COSAFA organise several tournaments in the Southern African ...

women's football tournament. Originally nine countries were scheduled to participate but Mozambique withdrew and the number was cut to eight.

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

won the tournament and Zambia came out as third place winner. The 2006 team had 20 players. The regional COSAFA championship team was announced on 18 August 2006. The 2006 Confederation of Southern African Football Associations women's tournament was held in

Lusaka Lusaka ( ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was abo ...

. It was in Group A. On 22 August, it tied Namibia 2–2 with

Noria Sosala Noria Sosala (born 25 December 1988) is a Zambian footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadi ...

scoring in the 15th minute and Charity Mpongo scoring in the 30th minute for Zambia. It beat Swaziland 7–0 on 24 August, with Charity Mpongo scoring in the 23rd, 43rd, 64th and 67th minutes,

Susan Banda Susan Banda (born 6 July 1990) is a Zambian footballer who plays as a midfielder for OFI in the Greek A Division and the Zambia women's national team. She was part of the team at the 2014 African Women's Championship. Banda was named to th ...

scoring in the 37th minute, Gift Lishika scoring in the 41st minute, and Martha Kapombo scoring in the 56th minute for Zambia. It finished in the top of its group. On 25 August in a semifinal against Namibia, it tied 1–1 with Martha Kapombo scoring its only goal in the 90th minute. It lost the game in an overtime shoot out by 4–5. On 26 August, it beat Zimbabwe 2–1 to finish third with

scoring both goals in the 67th and 75th minutes. 2007 saw an improvement in rank for Zambia, moving up 9 sports to 117 best team in the world. That year, the team was supported to participate in the 2007 African Games qualifying tournament, opening against the

and Zambia withdrew from the tournament before it played a single game. Later that year, on Sunday, 2 December 2007 in a game played in Harare, Zimbabwe won 3–1 against Zambia. The game was part of the 2008 African Women Championship. In the return match on Sunday, 16 December 2007 in a game played in Lusaka, Zambia won 2–1 against Zimbabwe. In 2008, the team's ranking again went up, this time to 110. The played 1 FIFA recognised match on Sunday, 4 May 2008 in a game played in

Benguela Benguela (; Umbundu: Luombaka) is a city in western Angola, capital of Benguela Province. Benguela is one of Angola's most populous cities with a population of 555,124 in the city and 561,775 in the municipality, at the 2014 census. History Por ...

against Botswana. Zambia won 4–2, holding on from a 3–1 score at the half. In 2009, FIFA ranked the country as the 92 in the world. That year, it did not play any FIFA recognised matches. The team's world ranking fell in 2010 to 122. That year, it played in 2 FIFA recognised matches. The first was on Saturday, 2 October 2010 in a game played in

Lobatse Lobatse is a town in south-eastern Botswana, 70 kilometres south of the capital Gaborone, situated in a valley running north towards Gaborone and close to the border with South Africa. Lobatse has a population of 29,772 as of 2022. The town is ...

against Botswana, which Zambia won 4–1, holding on to a 3–0 half time lead. The second game was on Saturday, 23 October 2010 in a game played in

. Zambia won 2–1 against Botswana holding on to a 1–0 half time lead. Zambia team's rank fell in 2011, this time to 125th best in the world. It did not make it into the final group qualification round for the CAF region that fought it out to represent Africa in the World Cup. In January, the team played a pair of games against South Africa. It lost the 15 January game in Lusaka 1–2, going down with a score of 0–0 at the half. It lost the 29 January game in

Umlazi Umlazi is a township in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, located south-west of Durban. Organisationally and administratively it forms part of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality and its South Municipal Planning Region. It is the fourth largest ...

0–3 after being down 0–1 at the half. Later that year, it played 3 games in

Harare Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...

against South Africa, Tanzania and Botswana. On Saturday, 2 July, South Africa won 4–1 against Zambia. On Sunday, 3 July, Zambia won 4–1 against Tanzania. On Tuesday, 5 July, Botswana lost 1–4 against Zambia. The country did not have a team competing at the 2011 All Africa Games. Going into the 2012 season, the team coach is Enala Phiri-Simbeye, a woman with Deborah Chisanga serving as the team's skipper. On 14 January 2012, it played a game against Malawi that it won 7–0 after being ahead 4–0 at the half. The game was part of the CAF African Women's Championship and was played in the first round and played in

. Prior to the start of the game, the team danced on the field and sang Chikokishi music. Malawi beat Zambia 4–2 following a 1–0 lead at halftime in the return leg played in

Blantyre Blantyre is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with a population of 800,264 . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, Lilongwe. It is ...

, Malawi on 29 January 2012.

Suzan Banda Susan Banda (born 6 July 1990) is a Zambian footballer who plays as a midfielder for OFI in the Greek A Division and the Zambia women's national team. She was part of the team at the 2014 African Women's Championship. Banda was named to the ...

scored the second goal of the game, and the first for Zambia in the match. Mupopa Kawange scored Zambia's second goal. Zambia had a number of fans, most women, who attended the game in Malawi. In March 2012, the team was ranked the 126th best in the world and the 19th best in CAF. In the African qualifiers for the

2020 Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

, it defeated

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

in the final round and qualified for the Olympics for the first time. In its Olympics debut, it experienced a 3–10 loss to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, the highest-scoring women's soccer match in Olympics history.

Olympic team

For the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, there are no age restrictions for players, and Zambia has opted to qualify with a U20/U23 side. Zambia competed in the qualifying tournament in an effort to represent the country at the 2012 Summer Olympics. The qualification tournament started in 2010. The team was coached by Enala Phiri-Simbeye. During its campaign, it beat the

Botswana women's national football team The Botswana women's national football team is the women's national football team of Botswana and is controlled by the Botswana Football Association. They qualified for their maiden Africa Women Cup of Nations (AWCON) tournament held in Morocco ...

4–1 in

Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Botswana, largest city of Botswana, with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its metropolitan area is home to 534, ...

and beat it 2–1 in Lusaka. The performance of the team earned praise from women's groups inside the country. In January 2011, Zambia had to face South Africa in the qualifying tournament for the Olympics. The squad named to play against South Africa included goalkeepers Mirriam Katamanda, Ennie Matukuta, Defenders Meya Banda, Verocia Chiluba, Jessica Chabota, Mulai Wilombe, Deborah Chisenga, Veronica Chisala, Midfielders Misozi Zulu,

, Etas Banda, Fostina Sakala,

Kabange Mupopo Kabange Mupopo (born 21 September 1992) is a Zambian sprinter and football midfielder. She won gold in the 400 metres at the 2015 All-Africa Games and represented Zambia in football at the 2024 Summer Olympics. Biography Mupopo st ...

, Rachel Chisha, Chisala Musonda, and Strikers Mwila Bowa,

, Gift Lisaka and Ednasha Mambwe. Chiluba is the second daughter of Zambia's president. Coached by Enala Simbeya, Zambia's U23 team participated in the 2011

All-Africa Games The African Games, formally known as the All-Africa Games or the Pan African Games, are a continental multi-sport event held every four years, organized by the African Union with the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa and the ...

qualifiers. They played a pair of games against Zimbabwe. On Sunday, 13 February 2011 in a game played at the

Rufaro Stadium The Rufaro Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Harare, Zimbabwe and home to Dynamos F.C. and Harare City F.C. It is currently used mostly for football matches. The stadium has a capacity of 20,000 people. In 1980, Bob Marley and the Wailers ...

, Zimbabwe won 1–0 against Zambia, overcoming a half time score of 0–0. On the return leg played on Sunday, 27 February 2011 in a game played at

Nkoloma Stadium Nkoloma Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Lusaka, Zambia. It is currently used mostly for football (soccer), football matches and serves as the home for Red Arrows F.C. that plays in the Zambian Premier League and its second team Young Arrows F.C ...

, Zambia lost 1–3 to Zimbabwe, scoring a goal in the second half with the first half ending with Zambia down 0–3. Simbeya did not name their 18-woman team until a day before the game. The loss eliminated them, with Zimbabwe going on to play Angola.

Homeless World Cup team

In 2008, a team represented the country at the

Homeless World Cup The Homeless World Cup (HWC) is an annual association football tournament organized by the Homeless World Cup Foundation, a social organization which advocates the end of homelessness through the sport. The organization puts together an annual f ...

. In round robin play, it won every game and were Crowned Champions. The tournament was held in Australia Melbourne. It beat Paraguay 6–1, Uganda 6–1, Kyrgyzstan 5–4, Liberia 4–1, Cameroon 17–0, Australia 18–1 and

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

10–1. In the half finals, it beat Kyrgyzstan 10–0. In the final, it beat Liberia 7–1.

2023 World Cup

Zambia qualified for the

, making the country the first landlocked nation in Africa to qualify for a senior World Cup in either gender. By reaching the semi-finals of the

2022 Women's Africa Cup of Nations The 2022 Women's Africa Cup of Nations (, ), (also referred to as WAFCON 2022) officially known as the 2022 TotalEnergies Women's Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship purposes, was the 14th edition of the biennial African international women's ...

it secured qualification. It was in Group C along with Spain, Japan and Costa Rica. Its opening match against Japan ended in a 5-0 defeat. Its second match was a loss to Spain by the same 5-0 score, leading to their elimination from the Group Stage alongside Costa Rica. Their final game, which was played against Costa Rica, ended with a 3-1 win to Zambia as they placed third within Group C on three points. In this game

Barbra Banda Barbra Banda (born 20 March 2000) is a Zambian professional association football, footballer who plays as a striker (association football), striker for National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) club Orlando Pride and captains the Zambia women's nat ...

scored Zambia's first World Cup goal, which was also the 1,000th goal in Women's World Cup history.

Fixtures

;Legend

2024

2025

Fixtures and Results – Soccerway.comGlobal sport

Coaching staff

Current coaching staff

Manager history

* Charles Bwale (2014) * Albert Kachinga (2014–2018) * Bruce Mwape (2018–2025) *

Nora Häuptle Nora Häuptle (born 9 September 1983) is a Swiss football manager and former player who is the manager of the Zambia women's national team since 4th January 2025. In her playing career, Häuptle played as a defender. She started out at St. Gall ...

(2025-)

Players

Current squad

*The following players were called up for the two

friendlies An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the playe ...

against and on 28 May and 3 June 2025. ''Caps and goals accurate up to and including 18 April 2021.''

Recent call-ups

The following players had been called up to a squad in 12 months preceding the above draft. ^INJ Injured player.
^PRE Preliminary squad.
^RET Retired from international football.
^SUS Suspended for the next match.
^WD Withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.
^QUA Placed in quarantine after a contact with COVID-19.

Previous squads

;FIFA Women's World Cup *

2023 FIFA Women's World Cup squads The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup was an international women's association football tournament held in Australia and New Zealand from 20 July until 20 August 2023. The 32 national teams involved in the tournament were required to register a squad of ...

;Africa Women Cup of Nations *

2022 Women's Africa Cup of Nations squads This article lists the squads for the 2022 Women's Africa Cup of Nations, the 14th edition of the Women's Africa Cup of Nations, a biennial women's international football tournament for national teams in Africa, organised by the Confederation of Af ...

;COSAFA Women's Championship * 2020 COSAFA Women's Championship squad * 2022 COSAFA Women's Championship squad * 2023 COSAFA Women's Championship squad * 2024 COSAFA Women's Championship squad ;Turkish Women's Cup * 2023 Turkish Women's Cup squads

Competitive record

FIFA Women's World Cup

Zambia made its World Cup debut on 22 July 2023.

Olympic Games

Africa Cup

African Games

COSAFA Championship

:''*Draws include knockout matches decided via

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

.''

Turkish Cup

Honours

Major competitions

Women's Africa Cup of Nations The Women's Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON), known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies Women's Africa Cup of Nations and formerly the African Women's Championship, is a biennial international women's football tournament organized by ...

: ''Third place:'' (1) 2022

References

External links

FacebookXOfficial website

FIFA profile
FIFA.com {{National sports teams of Zambia African women's national association football teams