190 goals, more than 300 caps… Canadian legend Christine Sinclair retires from international duty

The Canadian football legend retires from international football after the last rally of the year.

It is a monument of women’s football which has left the international scene. The historic captain of the Canadian team Christine Sinclair hangs up her selection boots after a final friendly match against Australia in Vancouver, Tuesday December 5. In the Olympic stadium, renamed “Christine Sinclair Place” for the occasion, she came out in the 59th minute to the applause of the supporters but also of her opponents.

Greeted by her teammates, one by one, Sinclair gave up her place, very moved, to another monument of the Canadian selection who was also playing her last match with the Canucks, Sophie Schmidt, Canada’s second most capped player (226 caps) . A look back at the notable numbers and records established by the British Columbia native during her 23 years with the national team.

190 national team goals, absolute record

Christine Sinclair is quite simply the best scorer in the history of national football (women and men combined). At 40, the Portland Thorns player in the United States has scored 190 goals in the Canadian jersey since her first cap in 2000. With particularly prosperous years, such as 2007, the year of the Pan American Games and the World Cup, with 16 goals in 13 matches, or 2012, Olympic year, with a ratio of 23 goals in 22 appearances.

In this ranking of scorers, she is ahead of two Americans, Abby Wambach (184 goals) and Mia Hamm (158 goals). She passed Abby Wambach, one of her inspirations, on January 29, 2020, during an Olympic qualifying match against Saint Kitts and Nevis. “Christine, history is written. Your victory is our victory. We celebrate with you”the American reacted on social networks.

In comparison, the best scorer in the history of Les Bleues, Eugénie Le Sommer, has 93 goals.

A first goal at 16 for a precocious record at his time

If Christine Sinclair has found the net so many times, it is also because she started very early. She made her debut for the national team at the age of 16, during the friendly tournament of the Algarve Cup, on March 12, 2000. Two days later, she already scored her first goal with Canada, opening the score in the first minutes of the match against Norway.

At 16 years, 9 months and 2 days, she became the youngest scorer in the history of the Canadian selection (record then broken in March 2002 by Kara Lang, at 15). “She has a lot of potential as a goalscorer. She has this special quality that I can’t teach, of always being there and just touching the ball with her head, chest or foot.”already greeted his coach Even Pellerud.

331 caps for the 2nd most capped player in history

Christine Sinclair is also a reference among the most selected players in the history of football. Her last two international matches against Australia bring her total caps to 331. She is only ahead of the American (and first name namesake) Kristine Lilly, and her 354 caps between 1987 and 2010. Relatively spared from injuries Throughout her career, the striker quickly established herself as a key player for her team, of which she was also captain.

She has scored in 5 different World Cups

Canada’s captain has shone at the highest level throughout her career. In twenty-three years, Christine Sinclair has notably competed in six World Cups, from the 2003 edition in the United States to that of 2023 on the other side of the world in Australia and New Zealand, last summer. She even scored in five of these six editions, remaining silent only during the last World Cup, which saw Canada eliminated even before the final phase.

Christine Sinclair shares these two records with another legend, the Brazilian Marta, who also played in the six global meetings between 2003 and 2023 and scored in the first five. “Thank you for everything you have done, for me, for the supporters, thank you for everything,” the Brazilian also paid tribute to her during a friendly match between the two selections in October.