2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations  – Zambia 

The Copper Queens have made huge progress from 2018 when they lightened up the last edition of the African Women’s Championship in Ghana despite not making it out from their group to the knockout stages. 

They finished 3rd in their group which had eventual finalists Nigeria and South Africa where they lost narrowly to the former and drew with the latter. They managed to see off the second most successful side in the tournament by hammering them 5-0 in the other group game. 

Zambia started attracting attention to itself with their performance in 2018. They also recorded their best result in the COSAFA Women’s Championship the following season by finishing as runners-up to South Africa. 

The Copper Queens defied all odds to book a place in the 2020 Olympic Games in Japan after eliminating Cameroon in the final round. In their run to the Olympics qualification, Zambia beat Zimbabwe, Botswana and Kenya before facing the Indomitable Lionesses.

Zambia’s best performance at the Africa Cup of Nations was in 1995 when they reached the quarter-finals. They couldn’t go past the group stages in the other appearances in 2014 and 2018.

They are expected to go beyond the group stages in this year’s tournament per their progress lately under Bruce Mwape who has been in charge of the team since 2018.

Mwape was named as the Best Women’s national coach in Africa for 2021 by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) in Africa.

However, the Copper Queens have managed to win five bronze medals at the COSAFA Women’s Championship and a fourth-place finish once.

Zambia are entering the tournament with key players Barbara Banda who plies her trade at Chinese club Shanghai Shengli, Grace Chanda, Misozi Zulu, Margaret Belemu and highly-rated goalkeeper Hazel Nali.