Sabitra Bhandari

Sabitra “Samba” Bhandari joined the Wellington Phoenix on a two-year contract in July 2025.

The popular Nepal striker has been a prolific goal scorer for both club and country and joined the Phoenix on a two-year contract.

Samba started her senior career at APF FC in Kathmandu before moving to Sethu FC in the Indian Women’s League in 2019.

She found the back of the net more than 60 times in just 24 matches in India and secured a move to Hapoel Ra’anana in 2023.

Samba cut short her time in Israel as a result of the ongoing Gaza conflict and joined En Avant Guingamp in France in early 2024.

She made history in March 2024 when she scored her first goal for En Avant Guingamp and became the first Nepalese player to play and scored in a top tier European competition.

Samba was En Avant Guingamp’s leading goal scorer the following season, finding the back of the net six times.

She scored a hat-trick against AS Saint-Étienne in their final game of the season to secure a 3-2 win. She also netted twice against Paris Saint-Germain.

Samba made her senior debut for Nepal as a 17-year-old in 2014 and has gone on to become their record goal scorer, finding the back of the net more than 60 times.

She remarkably scored three hat-tricks in three matches in the 2025 AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualification tournament.

> 2025-26 season

Sabitra Bhandari was limited to six starts for the Wellington Phoenix before suffering a season-ending knee injury at the start of January.

After being held scoreless in her first three matches for the Nix, Samba scored a brace in the 7-0 win over Sydney FC in December before scoring a goal and providing an assist in a 3-0 win over Western Sydney Wanderers.

She captured the imagination of the Nepalese diaspora in Australia, which flocked to the Phoenix’s matches across the Tasman.