Orlando Pride Striker Barbra Banda Ruled Out for the Season

The news is worse than expected regarding Barbra Banda’s injury. The Orlando Pride announced today that the club has placed the Zambian international striker and NWSL Golden Boot candidate on the Season Ending Injury (SEI) list after she sustained a hip injury one week ago in Orlando’s scoreless draw on the road against Kansas City.

According to the club’s press release, Banda suffered “a full thickness avulsion of her right adductor longus tendon.” In layman’s terms, in this type of injury the tendon completely detaches from the bone. It is considered a Grade 3 injury, which is the most severe type of soft tissue injury.

Banda sustained the injury when bumped by Temwa Chawinga while following through on a shot attempt against the Current in the early moments of the match. After sustaining contact while in the air, Banda came down awkwardly, stayed down, and was helped to the locker room by club medical staff. She was later shown in good spirits on the Pride bench, but the injury turned out to be a season-ender.

The club’s press release does not mention surgery, stating only: “Banda will work with the Pride’s medical team and partners at Orlando Health to put together a recovery and rehabilitation program.”

Multiple independent physicians and sports medicine practitioners The Mane Land reached out to — with the enormous disclaimer of not being on the Pride’s medical team and having no familiarity with Banda’s specific case — placed a minimum average timeline for recovery from this type of injury at roughly three to four months without surgery, and potentially longer if surgery is part of the treatment plan. However, they all cautioned that athletes respond to treatment at varying rates, so while some may find it useful to have a rough estimate, the above is not meant to be taken as an actual timeline for Banda’s return.

“We are devastated to announce Barbra Banda has been placed on the Season Ending Injury list following the soft-tissue injury she sustained during our recent match against Kansas City Current,” Orlando Pride Vice President of Soccer Operations and Sporting Director Haley Carter said in the club’s press release. “Barbra has been instrumental to our success, and losing a player of her caliber is heartbreaking for the entire organization. We are committed to providing her with the highest level of care and support throughout her recovery. Her contributions to this team both on and off the field have been immeasurable, and we know she will approach her rehabilitation with the same determination and professionalism she brings to everything she does.”

Pride fans were understandably excited at this week’s signing of Mexican international winger Lizbeth Jacqueline Ovalle and how her presence would augment Banda’s dynamic presence in the team’s attack. That will now have to wait a considerable amount of time and seriously jeopardizes the club’s chase for a second straight NWSL title run, because — and this is not a knock on the roster but an honest assessment of Banda’s ability — there simply is no other player on the Pride roster who can do what Banda does at the level in which she does it. She is, after all, a Ballon d’Or nominee.

Since signing with Orlando on March 7, 2024, Banda has produced 25 goals and eight assists in 41 matches with the club across all competitions according to the NWSL website. Her dynamic play helped lead the Pride to the club’s first two trophies — the 2024 NWSL Shield and 2024 NWSL Championship. She was a finalist for the league’s Most Valuable Player award, a member of the NWSL Best XI, the NWSL Championship MVP, the BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year, and a selection for the FIFPRO Women’s World 11 a year ago.

What It Means for Orlando

No one on the Pride has Banda’s combination of speed, power, and finishing, although some of her teammates have one…maybe two…of those traits. Without her on the pitch, there is no one to keep opposing back lines occupied and cautious. That was obvious in a dreadful second-half performance Thursday night at Angel City, in which the hosts’ center backs were playing in positions normally occupied by defensive midfielders. Without Banda on the pitch, Angel City was able to push its entire back line into the attacking half, keeping the Pride on their heels for nearly the entire 45 minutes after halftime and limiting Orlando to just one shot attempt.

However, even prior to Banda’s injury, the club struggled to score goals this season. The Zambian was often isolated and forced to either hold up play under pressure from multiple defenders or to take those defenders on and find a way to goal all by herself.

Despite the Pride sitting third in the NWSL table, only five teams have scored fewer than Orlando’s 22 goals so far this season. Orlando has been shut out in two straight matches and was the fortunate recipient of an opposition own goal the game before that. No Pride player has scored a goal for the club since Prisca Chilufya’s game-tying strike in the 72nd minute on Aug. 3 against the Utah Royals — a span of 288 minutes.

Marta, the team’s second-leading goal scorer in 2025 to Banda’s eight, has scored just three goals, and two of those have come from the penalty spot. The team’s 39-year-old captain racked up 11 goals in 2024, turning back the clock to a run of form from much earlier in her career. Banda, who is adept at drawing penalties, will no longer be able to provide even that service for the club for the rest of 2025.

The team’s offense has looked disjointed in nearly every match since the Pride’s 6-0 demolition of Chicago on opening day. Orlando has only scored more than one goal in a game five times in 17 NWSL matches, more than two goals on only three occasions, and notched just one goal in the NWSL Challenge Cup. Injuries, international absences, and a regression in form for several players has resulted in a curious power outage in the attack, and Orlando has dropped points against teams in the bottom half of the table in recent weeks.

Once she arrives, Ovalle will now likely have to shoulder more of the team’s scoring burden without the presence of Banda to provide her with space. Seb Hines’ team will need more production from everyone to account for Banda’s loss, especially those who have not reached their 2024 levels — players like Marta, Summer Yates (who has battled injuries), Ally Watt, Julie Doyle, and Angelina.

Chilufya, who was brought in to replace the departed Adriana, has scored just twice in 15 appearances, covering 444 minutes. The Zambian international has started just three times in her first season in Orlando. Rookie Simone Jackson has looked threatening at times since signing on May 29, but she’s been inconsistent in her first professional year.

Zambian international winger Grace Chanda returned from serious injury and was cleared to play, but Hines has not played her, whether due to form, fitness, a lack of trust in her, or a combination of those. Simone Charley has looked threatening in limited minutes since returning from back-to-back Achilles injuries, but she has understandably had her minutes managed, and it may be some time before she’s given enough playing time to settle in and build chemistry with her teammates under game conditions.

There is still time for the Pride to gel and get hot before season’s end, regaining their status as championship contenders/favorites. It will be more difficult without Banda, but it remains to be seen what Ovalle can do to lift the Pride. The season isn’t over, and despite this horrific injury news, Hines still has a formidable group of players who have previously performed at higher levels. The 2024 NWSL Coach of the Year will need to figure out how to make the pieces he’s got work together over the regular season’s final nine games. He’ll also need to find a combination that works ahead of the Concacaf Women’s Champions Cup matches, which begin during a crowded September schedule.