BANDA MAKES BALLON D’OR TOP 30 FOR THIRD STRAIGHT YEAR

Zambia Women’s National Team captain Barbra Banda has been named among the 30 nominees for the 2026 Ballon d’Or Féminin, earning her third consecutive nomination for the prestigious individual award.

Banda has been included among the 30 nominees for the 2026 Ballon d’Or Féminin, alongside Malawi Women’s National Team star Temwa Chawinga.

The nomination further underlines Banda’s standing among the leading players in the women’s game, having established herself as one of the Orlando Pride’s key attacking players and a prominent figure in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).

The Ballon d’Or awards are organised annually by French football magazine France Football, with the ceremony co-organised with UEFA. The award recognises the outstanding male and female footballers in the world, regardless of league or nationality.

The voting period for this year’s award covers the entirety of the 2025/26 season, from August 3, 2025 to July 19, 2026, including major international competitions.

However, the recently concluded Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, which ended on August 16, 2026, will be considered for the next edition of the award.

Banda’s latest nomination adds to an impressive list of individual accolades for the Zambian forward. She was named the 2024 BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year and also won the CAF Women’s Player of the Year award.