Sabitra Bhandari (, ), 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.
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 8âÂÂ0 victory as a 17-year-old.
She joined Indian Women's League side Sethu FC for the 2018-19 Indian Women's League season. In her debut match she scored 4 goals for the club against Manipur Police Sports Club on 6 May 2019. She was also awarded with women of the match in her first match with Sethu FC.
She scored in average of two goals a game during her time in India, leading Sethu FC to winning Indian Women's League title.
Bhandari joined Gokulam Kerala FC for the 2019âÂÂ2020 season, and eventually won the League championship title and was the league top scorer with 16 goals.
After returning to Gokulam Kerala FC 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.
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 2âÂÂ0 win. She opened the 2024âÂÂ25 Ligat Nashim season well, scoring all 4 goals in a 4âÂÂ0 victory over Ramat HaSharon. She also scored in her second match, a 1âÂÂ1 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.
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 2024âÂÂ25 season, she scored 6 goals in 19 games making her Guingamp's top goal scorer for 2024âÂÂ25 season. On March 21, 2025, Bhandari scored brace against Paris Saint-Germain FC. She also scored hattrick against AS Saint-ÃÂtienne making her first ever Nepalese and South Asian player to score hattrick in top tier league in Europe.
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 FC 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.
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 8âÂÂ0 to open the tournament and scored 5 goals against Maldives in the 2nd group match.
Sethu FC
Gokulam Kerala
Individual