Johnson Bwalya (born 3 December 1967) is a Zambian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

. He spent most of his career in Switzerland while representing the Zambia national team internationally. With Zambia, he participated at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

Club career

Born in

Mufulira Mufulira is a town in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia. Mufulira means "Place of Abundance and Peace". The town developed around the Mufulira Copper Mine in the 1930s. The town also serves as the administrative capital of Mufulira District. G ...

, Bwalya attended Kantanshi Secondary school and began his career at hometown club Butondo Western Tigers. In 1986, he joined

Mufulira Wanderers Mufulira Wanderers are Zambia's most successful football club, based in the Copperbelt town of Mufulira, and compete in the Zambia Super League after their promotion from the Zambia National Division One at the end of 2023–24. Popularly kno ...

, winning Footballer of the Year in his first season at the club. At the end of the season, he signed for Swiss club

FC Fribourg FC Fribourg is a Swiss football club from the town of Fribourg in the Canton of Fribourg. In the 2022–23 season, the team plays in 2. Liga Interregional, the fifth highest tier in the Swiss football pyramid. History The club was founded ...

. He later played for

FC Sion Football Club Sion, commonly known as simply FC Sion or Sion, is a Swiss Association football, football club from the city of Sion, Switzerland, Sion. The club was founded in 1909 and play their home matches at the Stade Tourbillon. They have wo ...

FC Bulle FC Bulle is a Swiss football club, based in Bulle. Their home ground is the Stade de Bouleyres. They currently play in Promotion League, the third tier of Swiss football. History Founded in 1910, they last played in the Swiss top tier in 1 ...

SC Kriens SC Kriens is a football club based in Kriens, Switzerland, that currently competing in the Promotion League, the third tier of Swiss football. The club uses Stadion Kleinfeld as home ground, and form a local rivalry with FC Luzern. SC Kriens ...

FC Luzern Fussball-Club Luzern (), or simply abbreviated to FCL, is a Swiss sports club based in Lucerne (). It is best known for its professional association football, football team, which plays in the Swiss Super League, Super League, the top tier of the ...

, and

SR Delémont Sport-Réunis de Delémont (shortened to SR Delémont) is a Swiss Association football, football club based in Delémont and founded in 1909. The team currently play in Swiss 1. Liga (football), 1st League Classic from 2025–26, the fourth tier ...

International career

Bwalya made his debut for the Zambia national team in April 1987 in an All Africa Games qualifier against

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

Lusaka Lusaka ( ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was abo ...

and was part of the Zambia team that qualified to the

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

. He scored a goal in Zambia's 4–0 win against Italy on their way to becoming the first African team to reach the quarter-finals of the tournament.Johnson Bwalya
Sports-Reference.com After slipping past a defender, Bwalya hit a shot from nearly 35 yards that swerved and dipped just under the crossbar. In the game against

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

which Zambia lost 4–0, he was injured. He did not feature for Zambia for the next four years. Upon his recovery, Bwalya regained his form and won back his place in the national team and was to join up with the team for the Senegal game only to learn that the plane carrying the team had plunged into the sea in the Gabon disaster. When a new team was assembled it was Bwalya and

Kalusha Bwalya Kalusha Bwalya (born 16 August 1963) is a Zambian former professional footballer. He is Zambia's eighth-most capped player and third on the list of all-time top goalscorers behind Godfrey Chitalu and Alex Chola. Kalusha was named African Foot ...

that led the team, both of them scoring in a match against Morocco with Bwalya getting the winning goal with a 25-metre shot in 2–1 win. Bwalya was part of the team that reached the final of the

1994 African Cup of Nations The 1994 African Cup of Nations, known as the Nescafé 1994 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship purposes, was the 19th edition of the African Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football championship of Africa organised by the Con ...

in Tunisia and was a stand-in captain in Kalusha's absence as the team also qualified to the

1996 African Cup of Nations The 1996 African Cup of Nations, also known as the Coca-Cola 1996 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 20th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was hosted by South Africa, who rep ...

in South Africa where they lost to

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

in the semi-finals. At the 1996 African Cup of Nations, Bwalya was part of a Zambian team that won the bronze medal, scoring 15 goals in the process and defeating

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

3–1 in a come from behind quarter-final victory. In 1997, Zambia drew a World Cup qualifier with South Africa 0–0 at Independence Stadium in Lusaka amid reports of a falling out between Bwalya and

, with Bwalya unhappy with the latter's influence on team selection. Later that year, Bwalya as captain led Zambia and lifted the inaugural COSAFA Castle Cup. When new coach German Burkhard Ziese took over the reins of the national team in late 1997, he accused Bwalya of having the wrong attitude by not attending a team meeting and dropped him from the team travelling to

1998 African Cup of Nations The 1998 African Cup of Nations in Burkina Faso was the 21st edition of the Africa Cup of Nations (ACN), the national Association football, football championship of Africa, administered by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). Just like in ...

where Zambia was knocked out in the group stages.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bwalya, Johnson 1967 births Living people Footballers from Mufulira Zambian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Zambia men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Zambia Footballers at the 1988 Summer Olympics 1994 African Cup of Nations players 1996 African Cup of Nations players Swiss Super League players Swiss Challenge League players FC Fribourg players FC Sion players FC Bulle players SC Kriens players FC Luzern players SR Delémont players Zambian expatriate men's footballers Zambian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland