Zambia end World Cup on high with historic win over Costa Rica

Ben Sully

Barbra Banda has a shot on goal for ZambiaAFP

Zambia overcame Costa Rica in their final group game to record their first-ever win at the FIFA Women’s World Cup finals. The 3-1 victory enabled the Copper Queens to leapfrog their opponents into third position and avoid a pointless exit.

Despite them both being eliminated already, the two nations were still desperate to claim maximum points in the final group fixture. Costa Rica were targeting a positive start after conceding all five goals in defeats to Japan and Spain inside the opening half-hour.

However, it proved to be another disastrous start for Las Ticas, as Zambia quickly took the lead inside three minutes. An out-swinging corner from the right flank was hooked home by Lushomo Mweemba, who had the honour of scoring Zambia’s very first goal at a Women’s World Cup.

Zambia players celebrate after Lushomo Mweemba scores their first ever Women's World Cup goalAFP

With Costa Rica finding it tough to contain Zambia’s attacking efforts, they gifted their opponents the chance to double their advantage, when Katherine Alvarado pulled down Barbra Banda in the box.

The Zambia forward assumed responsibility to send Daniela Solera the wrong way, duly registering the 1,000th goal in Women’s World Cup final history.

Barbra Banda starred for Zambia against Costa RicaOpta by StatsPerform

Costa Rica went close to halving the deficit through María Coto, who produced a thumping header against the woodwork to ensure that the Copper Queens would take a two-goal lead into half-time.

After showing signs of promise before the break, Las Ticas finally established a foothold within three minutes of the restart, when Melissa Herrera bundled the ball home for a scrappy goal.

Melissa Herrera scores Costa Rica's first goal of the tournamentAFP

With momentum in their favour, Costa Rica thought a penalty was quickly heading their way, but an offside infringement prevented the referee Bouchra Karboubi from pointing to the spot for a foul on Priscilla Chinchilla.

There was to be more frustration for Amelia Valverde’s side when Herrera had her second goal chalked off by the assistant’s flag. And Costa Rica’s hopes of picking up a point were quashed in stoppage time when Racheal Kundananji calmly slotted the ball past the onrushing Solera to wrap up a historic victory.