Christine Sinclair Announces Canada Retirement; Has Record 190 International Goals

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Christine Sinclair’s historic run with the Canadian women’s national team has come to an end.

Sinclair announced her retirement from international competition on Friday: “Honestly, you can’t play forever. And this seems like a good time to be done.”

She originally joined Canada’s senior team in 2000 at the age of 16. Her 190 career goals in international matches are the most in history by any player. She surpassed the previous record of 184 set by United States legend Abby Wambach.

Sinclair is still planning to play in the NWSL with the Portland Thorns through the 2024 season. She has played for the Thorns since 2013.

“After Tokyo, I knew I didn’t want to play in Paris,” Sinclair said, referencing the 2024 Summer Games. “And then I wanted to give the World Cup another shot [this year] just with our team’s lack of success in World Cups in general. So, I knew it was coming to an end just based on what I wanted to do in terms of a timeline.”

One of the great highlights of Sinclair’s career was leading Canada to the gold medal at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. It came after the Canadians won bronze at the 2012 and 2016 Games.

The 2023 World Cup wasn’t as kind to Canada, which failed to advance out of the group stage with a 4-0 loss to Australia. Sinclair admitted to extending her career with the national team to help them qualify for the Olympics and “to go out on a little bit better of a note” than what happened in Australia.

Canada secured its spot at the Paris Games with a 4-1 aggregate win over Jamaica in an Olympic qualifier last month.

Sinclair’s official sendoff will come during a pair of games during the FIFA international window from Nov. 27 to Dec. 5. Canada’s opponents for those matches have not yet been announced.