The Zambia women's national association football team represents Zambia in women's association football. Nicknamed the Copper Queens, they debuted in the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.
Contents
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 who first agreed to sponsor the Zambia national football team. 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. 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 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. It was in Group A. It beat the Malawi women's national football team 8–0 on 20 April. It played against Zimbabwe women's national football team on 22 April where Zambia lost 0–4. On 23 April, it beat Lesotho women's national football team 3–1. It finished second in its group. On 26 April, it lost to South Africa women's national football team 1–3 in the semifinals. It went on to beat Mozambique women's national football team 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 Lusaka, Zambia 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 and a top-level club team at the same time. In 2004, Zimbabwe women's national football team 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.
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.
Olympic team
For the 2012 Summer Olympics, there were no age restrictions for players, and Zambia 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 4–1 in Gaborone and 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, Susan Banda, Etas Banda, Fostina Sakala, Kabange Mupopo, Rachel Chisha, Chisala Musonda, and Strikers Mwila Bowa, Noria Sosala, 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 qualifiers. They played a pair of games against Zimbabwe. On Sunday, 13 February 2011 in a game played at the Rufaro Stadium in Harare, 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 in Lusaka, 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. 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 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 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, 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 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 scored Zambia's first World Cup goal, which was also the 1,000th goal in Women's World Cup history.
Results and fixtures
Legend
Win
Draw
Loss
Void and postponed
Fixture
2026
Fixtures and Results – Soccerway.com
Global sport
Coaching staff
Current coaching staff
As of 1 February 2025
Coaching history
Charles Bwale (2014)
Albert Kachinga (2014–2018)
Bruce Mwape (2018–2025)
Nora Häuptle (2025–)
Players
Current squad
The following players were called up for the 2026 WAFCON matches from 26 July through 16 August 2026.
Caps and goals accurate up to and including 13 July 2025.
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
Africa Women Cup of Nations
2022 Women's Africa Cup of Nations squads
2024 Women's Africa Cup of Nations squads
2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations squads
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.
COSAFA Championship
*Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.
Honours
Women's Africa Cup of Nations
Third place: (1) 2022