Sabitra Bhandari (),https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPGLVtMidyW/?igsh=dm5pN29pd2szZnZ2 popularly known as Samba, is a Nepalese professional footballer who plays as a striker for A-League Women club Wellington Phoenix and captains the Nepal national team.

She is the all-time highest goal scorer in Nepalese football history and broke record as the highest female goalscorer in South Asia, with 53 goals. She made history by being the first Nepalese player to play and score in top tier European league. She is also the first ever South Asian player to score a hat-trick in a top tier European league.

Career

At club level, Bhandari played for APF Club. Bhandari made into Nepal national team for the 2014 South Asian Football Federation ChampionshiP and made her international debut against Bhutan, coming off the bench and sealing an 8–0 victory as a 17-year-old.

Sethu She joined Indian Women's League side Sethu for the 2018-19 Indian Women's League season. In her debut match she scored 4 goals for the club against Manipur Police on 6 May 2019. She was also awarded with women of the match in her first match with Sethu.

She scored in average of two goals a game during her time in India, leading Sethu FC to winning Indian Women's League title.

Gokulam Kerala Bhandari joined Gokulam Kerala for the 2019–2020 season, and eventually won the League championship title and was the league top scorer with 16 goals.

After returning to Gokulam Kerala for the 2023 season, she was the league's top scorer with 31 goals, including five hat-tricks. Her performance helped the team win the league title, marking her third Indian Women's League trophy.

Hapoel Ra'anana In June 2023, Bhandari joined Israeli club Hapoel Ra'anana with the announcement receiving over 800 comments and thousands of views while the Israeli embassy in Kathmandu invited her to congratulate her personally. Bhandari made her club debut in August, playing in a cup match against Maccabi Kishronot Hadera, scoring a 90th minute goal in a 2–0 win. She opened the 2024–25 Ligat Nashim season well, scoring all 4 goals in a 4–0 victory over Ramat HaSharon. She also scored in her second match, a 1–1 draw against Hapoel Petah Tikva. Afterwards she scored an injury time equaliser against last season's runner-up Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem. Following the October 7 attacks, Bhandari's spell was cut short after scoring six goals in four league games as well as one goal in three cup matches.

Guingamp She made her debut on Feb 3rd, 2024 coming as a substitute on 78th minute. She scored her first goal against Lille OSC on March 2, 2024. In her first season, she scored 1 goal in 10 games for Guingamp.

In 2024–25 season, she scored 6 goals in 19 games making her Guingamp's top goal scorer for 2024–25 season. On March 21, 2025, Bhandari scored brace against Paris Saint-Germain. She also scored hattrick against AS Saint-Étienne making her first ever Nepalese and South Asian player to score hattrick in top tier league in Europe.

Wellington Phoenix In July 2025, Wellington Phoenix announced the signing of Bhandari on a two-year contract. On 20 December 2025, Sabitra Bhandari scored two goals and provided one assist for Wellington Phoenix in a league match against Sydney in the A-League Women. The match marked her fourth appearance for the club, during which she found the net for the first time. With this performance, Bhandari became the first Nepali footballer to score in the A-League Women.

International career Bhandari represents Nepal at the international level. She participated in and even scored a goal against Bhutan at the 2014 SAFF Women's Championship. She represented the country during the 2016 South Asian Games where she scored two goals against Sri Lanka. She scored the only goal in a friendly victory against Malaysia on 17 December 2016.

Bhandari then played in Nepal's first match of the 2016 SAFF Women's Championship against Bhutan. She scored six goals as Nepal won 8–0 to open the tournament and scored 5 goals against Maldives in the 2nd group match.

Career statistics Club

ClubSeasonLeagueNational cupContinentalOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals APF2017–18ANFA Women's League52752720211243124320221414Total 18741874Sethu2018–19Indian Women's League715———715Total715———715Gokulam Kerala2019–20Indian Women's League716———7162022–231029———1029Total1745———1745Hapoel Ra'anana2023–24Liga Alef North46———46Total46———46En Avant Guingamp2023–24Première Ligue41———412024–25256———256Total297———297Wellington Phoenix2025–26A-League Women63———63Total63———63Career total71150———71150

International

+ Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsNepal2014-12015-12016-132017-12018-12019-202020-02021-02022-22023-42024-112025-13Total5668

International goals No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1. 12 November 2014 Jinnah Sports Stadium, Islamabad, Pakistan 8–0 8–0 2014 SAFF Women's Championship 2. 13 February 2016 Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Shillong, India 2–0 4–0 2016 South Asian Games 3. 3–0 4. 26 December 2016 Kanchenjunga Stadium, Siliguri, India 1–0 8–0 2016 SAFF Women's Championship 5. 2–0 6. 3–0 7. 5–0 8. 6–0 9. 7–0 10. 28 December 2016 1–0 9–0 11. 2–0 12. 3–0 13. 4–0 14. 6–0 15. 2 January 2017 1–2 1–3 16. 11 November 2018 Thuwunna Stadium, Yangon, Myanmar 1–0 1–1 2020 AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament 17. 11 February 2019 Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar, India 1–0 2–1 2019 Women's Gold Cup 18. 2–0 19. 13 February 2019 2–0 3–0 20. 3–0 21. 12 March 2019 Sahid Rangsala, Biratnagar, Nepal 2–0 3–0 2019 SAFF Women's Championship 22. 16 March 2019 2–0 3–0 23. 20 March 2019 3–0 4–0 24. 22 March 2019 1–1 1–3 25. 9 April 2019 Bahtoo Stadium, Mandalay, Myanmar 1–0 2–1 2020 AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament 26. 2–1 27. 8 September 2019 Central Stadium Karakol, Kyrgyzstan 1–0 8–2 Friendly 28. 2–0 29. 6–2 30. 7–2 31. 10 September 2019 1–0 1–0 32. 12 September 2019 1–? 2–3 33. 2–? 34. 5 December 2019 Pokhara Rangasala, Pokhara, Nepal 1–0 3–0 2019 South Asian Games 35. 2–0 36. 3–0 37. 6 September 2022 Dasharath Rangasala, Kathmandu, Nepal 1–0 4–0 2022 SAFF Women's Championship 38. 2–0 39. 16 February 2023 Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, Chennai, India 1–2 2–2 Friendly 40. 2–2 41. 5 April 2023 Dasarath Rangasala, Kathmandu, Nepal 1–4 1–5 2024 AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament 42. 13 July 2023 Bir Sherestha Shaheed Shipahi Mostafa Kamal Stadium, Dhaka, Bangladesh 1–1 1–1 Friendly 43. 20 February 2024 King Abdullah Sports City Reserve Stadium, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia 1–0 4–1 2024 WAFF Women's Championship 44. 22 February 2024 1–0 5–0 45. 2–0 46. 3–0 47. 4–0 48. 5–0 49. 24 February 2024 1–0 4–0 50. 2–0 51. 27 February 2024 Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports City, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia 1–1 2–1 52. 24 October 2024 Dasharath Rangasala, Kathmandu, Nepal 2–0 6–0 2024 SAFF Women's Championship 53. 27 October 2024 1–1 1–1 54. 20 February 2025 1–0 1–0 2025 Vianet Championship 55. 23 February 2025 2–2 2–2 56. 29 June 2025 Milliy Stadium, Tashkent, Uzbekistan 2–0 9–0 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup qualification 57. 4–0 58. 6–0 59. 7–0 60. 2 July 2025 2–0 8–0 61. 3–0 62. 4–0 63. 5 July 2025 1–2 3–3 64. 3–3 65. 27 October 2025 Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Shillong, India 1–0 2–1 Friendly 66. 2–0

Honours Sethu FC Indian Women's League: 2018–19

Gokulam Kerala Indian Women's League: 2019–20, 2022–23

Individual Indian Women's League Top Scorer: 2019–20, 2022–23 Top Goal Scorer of 2016 SAFF Women's Championship, Best Player of Pradhansenapati International women's football tournament 2013, Seventh National Game Of Nepal 2013 women's football top goal scorer, 2019 Pulsar Sports Award woman's Player Of The year.

See also List of top international women's football goal scorers by country

References

External links