Christine Sinclair, Canadian legend and all-time goals leader, retires from international soccer

Canadian legend Christine Sinclair, the all-time leader in international goals scored, is finally hanging up her boots for good.

Canada Soccer confirmed the news on Friday after the 40-year-old posted a cryptic photo to Instagram on Thursday hinting that she was retiring.

The prolific striker made 390 international appearances for Canada, scoring 190 goals and was shortlisted for FIFA World Player of the Year seven times. FIFA created concurrent awards for her and Cristiano Ronaldo for becoming the all-time international goal-scoring leaders in 2021.

Sinclair said the 2023 World Cup would probably be the final time she would play in the world’s marquee event, her sixth World Cup overall. After Canada was eliminated, Sinclair reflected on the dismal state of women’s soccer in Canada, pointing to Canada Soccer’s continued financial and governing woes.

“Things have to change,” Sinclair said on July 31. “We don’t have a professional league. We don’t have that pathway for players to make the national team. If this isn’t a wake-up call, I don’t know what is.”

Sinclair made her national team debut at the Algarve Cup in 2000 as a 16-year-old. She rose to international prominence with seven goals during the 2002 Gold Cup and became a permanent fixture of the national team from there onwards, making her initial World Cup appearance in 2003.

One of the greatest strikers of all-time, Sinclair displayed an uncanny ability to time her enterprising runs to perfection and was clinical in the air as well.

Sinclair led the Canadian women’s program to its greatest era of prosperity and was part of the 2021 Olympic gold-medal winning team, scoring a goal against Japan in the group stage.

Unquestionably one of the greatest Canadian athletes ever, Sinclair’s retirement is a moment of pride and reckoning for a national team program at odds with the federation.