Orlando Pride forward Barbra Banda was injured in the final minutes of Friday’s 3-1 victory over Bay FC after scoring twice and adding an assist to extend her lead in the NWSL Golden Boot race.
The nature of the injury was not immediately clear. Pride head coach Seb Hines said after the match that he did not yet know the full nature of Banda’s injury.
Banda was sprinting to challenge for the ball near the sideline and pulled up in pain. It was unclear whether she made any contact with a nearby opponent. Banda sat on the field and was visibly upset, covering her face with her hands and then her jersey.
Orlando was out of substitutions and finished the match with 10 players.
Banda scored the opening goal four minutes into Friday’s game and added another goal a few minutes after halftime, giving her 11 goals in 12 games. North Carolina Courage forward Ashley Sanchez is the next closest in the Golden Boot race with seven goals.
“Barbs has been incredible,” Pride defender Cori Dyke, who scored the Pride’s third goal, said after the match. “She’s such a threat up top for us and she’s been bringing it every game, so, super proud of her. She was excellent tonight getting those two goals. Just super stoked for her.”
The NWSL will pause its regular season throughout June for the 2026 Men’s World Cup. Orlando’s next match is July 3 against Angel City FC.
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Banda missed nearly half of the 2025 season after injuring her hip adductor in August. She returned to the field at the start of this season in March.
In her NWSL debut season in 2024, Banda scored 13 goals in the regular season and added four more in the playoffs, including the only goal of the game as Orlando beat the Washington Spiritin the NWSL Championship. Banda was named MVP of that match.
Last season, she scored eight goals in 16 appearances before being injured.
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“I think we knew that when she came to the club and the league that she was a goalscorer, but I do think she’s showed different levels and different ways of scoring goals,” Hines said after Friday’s match.
“She’s hungry. It’s been a long time out, missing all of the second half of the year. You can see that hunger in her performances.”
Banda was a Ballon d’Or nominee in 2024 and 2025. She has played for Zambia‘s national team since 2016. She had hat tricks in the Tokyo Olympics and last year’s Paris Games.
