World-ranked No. 2 Germany suffered a shock 2-3 defeat to No. 77 Zambia Friday (July 7) after Zambian star Barbra Branda scored her second goal of the night in the 12th minute of stoppage time.
The International Friendly was a warm-up match for both teams before they head to the Women's World Cup later this month.
Zambia was the lowest-ranking team to qualify for that tournament, while Germany is second only to defending champions the U.S.
Banda's first goal came in the 48th minute, set up by Racheal Kundananji, who scored herself just 6 minutes later.
Both goals, as well as Banda's eventual winner, came on counter-attacks.
After Kundananji's goal, Germany missed several opportunities before Lea Schuller scored in the first minute of injury time. She was quickly followed by teammate Alexandra Popp scoring in the 110th minute, and a draw seemed imminent until Banda turned the tables again.
The night was even worse for Germany considering Carolin Simon, Marina Hegering, and Lena Oberdorf were all injured during play, with the first of these confirmed to be a serious ACL rupture, meaning that Simon will miss the World Cup.
At the tournament, Zambia will face Costa Rica (World No. 36) and Japan (No. 11) and Spain (No. 6) in Group C, while in Group H Germany will play Morocco (No. 72), South Korea (No. 17), and Colombia (No. 25).
The World Cup opens July 20 with co-hosts New Zealand and Australia playing Norway and the Republic of Ireland respectively.
