Kalusha Bwalya

Bwalya's career in Europe began at Cercle Brugge in Belgium. In his first season, he was the club's top scorer and was twice voted supporters' player of the year. Such was his impact that Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven took him to the Eredivisie, and he describes winning the championship twice in 1990/91 and 1991/92, under Bobby Robson, as a career highlight. He jokingly adds that: "Most of the time we played in the opponents half, because the team was so good. You know, we had Romario, Gerald Vanenburg, Eric Gerets, Wim Kieft and Hans van Breukelen and just to be with that group, to train with them day in, day out, was an experience." Bwalya's next stop was Club America, to whom he moved in 1994. The Mexican club's home ground is the legendary Azteca, an arena of which the Zambian icon has very fond memories. As he told FIFA.com: "I am privileged to have played in the best stadium in the world – and to have been able to call it my home ground." The Mexico experience in general was cherished by Bwalya, who devoted almost eight years of his career to the country and recalls his time there as "probably the best of my life". Despite his good performances at América and gaining a status of a fan favorite, Kalusha is also remembered for missing an empty net goal by striking the post against Cruz Azul. On the international front, his earliest achievement was arguably one of the most remarkable hat-tricks in modern football history, with three-times World Cup champions Italy on the…

Bwalya was a member of the national squad that participated at the 1988 Olympic Games, making his mark with a famous hat-trick in a 4–0 victory against Italy. At the full international level, he appeared in 87 international matches and scored 39 goals from 1983 to 2004. He debuted against Sudan in April 1983 at Dag Hammarskjoeld Stadium in a Cup of Nations qualifier in Ndola, and scored his first goal against Uganda in a World Cup qualifier the following year at the same venue. He has appeared in multiple tournaments, including six editions of the African Cup of Nations. Although he was captain of the national football team during the qualification matches for the 1994 World Cup, Kalusha was not on the ill-fated flight on 28 April 1993 when the entire team and its management were killed when the plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off Gabon. As he was playing for PSV Eindhoven, his schedule had him flying from the Netherlands to Senegal to join the team instead of being on the team plane. Kalusha took on the mantle of spearheading the revival of the national side the following year, captaining the side to the Runners-Up spot at the CAF African Nations Cup 1994 in Tunisia—where they succumbed to the Nigeria national team; this was to be the peak of his own career and Zambian football for a long time to come. The national team finished in 3rd place at the next edition of the Africa Cup in South Africa in 1996, with Kalusha winning the Golden Boot Award as the top scorer at…

Bwalya coached Zambia at the 2006 African Cup of Nations. Following their elimination in the first round, Bwalya resigned from his post. He then contributed to the 2006 World Cup as a member of FIFA’s Technical Study Group and later served as one of the ambassadors for the 2010 World Cup held in South Africa. Bwalya continued serving as vice president of the Football Association of Zambia until 2008, when he was elected president following strong pressure and support from FAZ members and the media. On 23 February 2008, he was elected to the CAF Executive Committee. Bwalya served as a standing committee member of both FIFA and the Confederation of African Football. He was president of the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) from 2008 to 2016, having previously served as vice president. In 2016, he unsuccessfully sought a third term as FAZ president, losing the election to Andrew Kamanga at the FAZ Annual General Meeting. Bwalya's long-held ambition of winning the Africa Cup of Nations was realized in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, when the Zambia national team defeated the heavily favored Ivory Coast in the final. As president of the Football Association of Zambia, he joined the players in lifting the trophy in Gabon, the same country where members of the national team perished in the 1993 air disaster. This emotional journey is documented in the film Eighteam, directed by Juan Rodriguez-Briso.

International goals

Scores and results list Zambia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Bwalya goal.