Christine Sinclair
Christine
Sinclair

Born
12 June 1983
Age
41
Club
Portland Thorns FC
Birthplace
Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Height
175 cm
School(s)
University of Portland
Where they grew up
Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
TEAM HONOURS (17)
Stats
International "A" - CAN WNT
331 Appearances
313 Starts
190 Goals
54 Assists

Bio

Christine Sinclair

Christine Margaret Sinclair... she/her... speaks English... soccer family (parents Bill and Sandra Sinclair, uncles Bruce, Brian, Brent and Sue Gant, cousins Dylan and Brayden Gant, great grandfather Norm Garriock)... both her father Bill and mother Sandra were born in Vancouver... both her father Bill and uncle Brian won Canada Soccer National Championships Challenge Trophy with New Westminster Blues in 1972... Christine was less than four months old when her father Bill, as team manager, helped Vancouver Firefighters FC win the 1983 Canada Soccer National Championships in Thunder Bay, Ontario (she was just seven years old when they won it all again in 1990 in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia)... she grew up playing soccer, baseball and basketball... she was four years old when she started playing soccer for South Burnaby Metro Club (she wore #10 for the Burna Bees)... growing up, favourites included Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres, Liverpool FC...

she earned a degree in Life Science from the University of Portland in 2005... she earned an honorary degree from both Simon Fraser University (honorary doctorate of laws degree in October 2013) and Kwantlen Polytechnic University (in October 2015)... has served as a global ambassador for the FIFA Live Your Goals campaign (starting in 2011)... has served as an ambassador for the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada...

she was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada on 30 June 2017 (she was invested on 24 January 2018)... recipient of The Best FIFA Special Award in recognition of setting the world’s all-time international goalscoring record... she was part of the London 2012 Olympic soccer team honoured in the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame’s Class of 2019... served as Canada’s flag bearer at the London 2012 Olympic Closing Ceremonies... recipient of Canada Soccer’s President’s Award in 2022... a 14-time Canada Soccer Player of the Year...

on 2 June 2017, the Christine Sinclair Community Centre was named in her honour by the City of Burnaby (formerly known as Fortius Sport & Health where in fact Canada had sometimes trained with Sinclair between 2013 and 2016)... was honoured by the City of Vancouver whose Mayor Kennedy Stewart proclaimed 29 January 2020 as “Christine Sinclair 185 Day” (”...whereas now in her 21st international season, Christine Sinclair has scored more international “A” goals than any of player in the history of soccer...”)... celebrated by Canada Soccer for breaking the world international goalscoring record ahead of the 8 April 2022 match at BC Place (her teammates wore 12 Sinclair shirts as part of the pre-match warmup)...

in December 2019, named Canada Soccer Player of the Decade (2010-2019)... across 19 years from 2002 to 2020, she was an eight-time top-5 finalist in voting for the The Canadian Press Female Athlete of the Year (at 19 years, it was the longest era by a team-sport athlete, with only golfers Marlene Stewart-Streit 35 years, Ada MacKenzie 21 years, and Stan Leonard 20 years recognized across a longer era)... in 2020, both Alphonso Davies and Christine Sinclair were the fifth pair of athletes from the same sport to win The Canadian Press Athlete of the Year awards in the same year (athletics 1936, golf 2000, ice hockey 2007, tennis 2013 and 2014)...

with Canada at the Olympic Games, won a gold medal (Tokyo 2021) and two bronze medals (London 2012 and Rio 2016)... she was in fact one of three players that won three consecutive Olympic medals (Sophie Schmidt, Desiree Scott, Christine Sinclair)... Concacaf champion with Canada (2010)… was the second footballer to represent Canada at five FIFA Women’s World Cups (USA 2003, China 2007, Germany 2011, Canada 2015, France 2019), including a fourth-place finish at USA 2003... has represented Canada at four Olympic Games... has won 10 Concacaf medals (2002 silver, 2004 bronze, 2006 silver, 2008 silver, 2010 gold, 2012 silver, 2016 silver, 2018 silver, 2020 silver, 2022 silver)... won medals at two Pan American Games (bronze at Rio 2007 and gold at Guadalajara 2011)...

won a silver medal with Canada at the FIFA U-19 Women’s World Championship Canada 2002… as a youth player in 2002, was noted by the FIFA U-19 Women’s World Championship Technical Study Group (“excellent goalscorer, dangerous, great crosses”)...

with Portland Thorns FC, a two-time NWSL Shield winner (2016, 2021), three-time NWSL Championship winner (2013, 2017, 2022), NWSL Fall Series winner (2020), NWSL Challenge Cup winner (2021), and International Women’s Cup winner (2021)... a two-time WPS Championship winner, once with FC Gold Pride (2010) and once with Western New York Flash (2011)... a USL W-League Championship winner with Vancouver Whitecaps FC (2006)... a two-time NCAA winner at the University of Portland (2002, 2005).. a Metro Women’s Soccer League winner with Vancouver UBC Alumni... a BC Soccer provincial championship winner with Vancouver UBC Alumni (2000)...

at age 15, she attended matches in Portland at the FIFA Women’s World Cup USA 1999... served as a draw assistant at the Official Draw for the FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007 on 3 March 2007... served as a special guest at the Official Draw for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015 on 6 December 2014... part of the Canada Soccer team that met Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Parliament Hill on 6 June 2016 ahead of their international match one day later in Ottawa... part of the Canada Soccer team that met Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Langford ahead of their international match on 8 April 2022 (a surprise visit by the Prime Minister at the team hotel)...

one of four members of iS4, a group that is dedicated to empowering others through workshops, speaking engagements, team building, and soccer camps... has served as a brand ambassador for Nike... has served as an ambassador for Canadian Tire’s Jumpstart program... featured in the Coca-Cola advertisement “Happiness is seeing yourself in the game” ahead of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8f5gj8yZ5GY)... in Canada, was featured on the front cover of FIFA 16 video game by EA Sports (alongside Lionel Messi)... served as a spokeperson for A&W Canada’s Burgers to Beat Multiple Sclerosis Day (she featured in advertisements alongside Allen Lulu)...

from China PR 2007, was noted by the FIFA Women’s World Cup Technical Study Group (”strong striker with good technique and shooting ability”)... from Beijing 2008, was noted by the Olympic Football Tournament Technical Study Group (”experienced, strong defender with good tackling and ball-shielding skills”)... from Germany 2011, was noted by the FIFA Women’s World Cup Technical Study Group (”intelligent striker who links attack with supporting midfielders”)... scored a memorable free-kick goal for Canada in the opening match against host Germany at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011 (a 1:2 loss to Germany, http://www.fifa.com/womensworldcup/video/video=1475532)... from London 2012, was noted by the Olympic Football Tournament Technical Study Group (”charismatic attacker with good passing skills and technique, dangerous in front of goal”)...

said coach Even Pellerud in May 2000, “huge potential as a striker“... said coach Pellerud in June 2000, “she has that special quality that I cannot teach; she is just there and knocks the ball in with head, chest, or foot”...

said Andrea Neil in 2006, “anybody who has played with her knows she can change a game and urn it on it’s head. You can say she is young, but she has a world of experience under her belt. That makes her our most reliable player and I believe the world’s best right now”... said Sinclair after breaking her nose in a FIFA Women’s World Cup match, “it wasn’t bleeding or anything, so I said ‘all right, let me back on’”... said of her attacking skills in 2011, “I really don’t think about scoring, but instead think more about being dangerous”... said teammate Karina LeBlanc, Christine is “humble, but willing to do anything”... said coach John Herdman, “for me she is like a Rolls Royce: everything about her is class”... wrote Cathal Kelly in 2012, “few athletes ever have spoken so loudly through their actions and so softly on the verbal front”... said teammate Danielle Foxhoven, “she’s a beast athletically: she’s fast, she’s big, she’s tall, she’s strong, but she thinks. She can use all of those skills because she thinks faster than anybody. She thinks on another level. The good Lord blessed her”... said Christine in 2015, “I am the person I am today because of football; I started when I was four years old and you learn so many valuable lessons as a kid in a team sport (like) teamwork, selflessness, and respecting your teammates and opponents”... said John Herdman in 2016, “she’s such a great Canadian and this is reflected in her leadership of our team, not only in the way that she can inspire her teammates, but also in the way that she can inspire all Canadians”... said in 2017 of playing for Portland Thorns FC, “it's about the community and the organization and standing up for that: being a good person, being a good teammate, being a good member of this community”... said John Herdman in 2017, “every single day the decisions she makes about her football career and around her personal life, they are all about pulling on that red jersey”...

said Christine in 2017 of her appointment as an Officer of the Order of Canada, “I am a very, very proud Canadian, I am proud of where I am from, so to be recognised in this nature is surreal. It’s not something you can dream about happening to you: I can dream of winning a World Cup or an Olympic gold medal, that’s my job; but to have your country recognise you, I don’t even know what to say”... said Christine in 2020, “I got about every day trying to be the best Canadian that I can in my own way”...

wrote Canada Soccer President Steven Reed in 2019, “Christine Sinclair is a once-in-a-generation athlete that has been at the heart of Canadian sport for over 20 years, but what she accomplished in the past 10 years has changed the sport forever in our country. Christine is the Canada Soccer Player of the Decade and unquestionably one of the greatest and most-loved athletes Canada has ever watched”...

said Christine Sinclair on 29 January 2020 after breaking the world record, “I’m a very proud Canadian. When I first joined the National Team, I had goals, dreams and aspirations of passing Mia Hamm one day. I should have aimed higher, not knowing that Abby Wambach would have beaten her, but I never could have imagined reaching the totals that I have. For all who have supported me through my career, a massive thank you”... said coach Kenneth Heiner-Møller after Sinclair broke the world record in 2020, “it’s a massive privilege to be part of this. It is history created right in front of your eyes and something I’m only a tiny little part of and it’s such a privilege and I’m so happy for Sinc”...

SIMPLY THE GREATEST - WORLD’S ALL-TIME INTERNATIONAL GOALSCORING RECORD:

wrote Canada Soccer President Steven Reed in 2020, “Canada’s Christine Sinclair is the greatest international goalscorer in the world’s most beloved sport. We have watched her grow from teenage star on the local grounds to international superstar who is adored around the world. For more than 20 years, she has served as a global ambassador to our nation, continually raising the bar for our sport through her achievements on the pitch and her humble actions off the pitch”... wrote Canada Soccer General Secretary Peter Montopoli in 2020, “Christine Sinclair, an absolute treasure to Canada and Canadian sport, is truly deserving of her remarkable achievement in setting the world’s all-time international goalscoring record. She has been making history throughout her career, leading Canada with skill, determination, pride and honour on the international stage. There is only one Christine Sinclair and she is simply greatest of all time”... wrote Concacaf President Victor Montagliani, “Christine’s achievements have made her an icon in Canada. She transcends the sport and is a wonderful role model for people across the country. I hope she continues leading the line for the national team and scoring goals. I thank her for the enormous contribution she has made to the sport in Canada, the Concacaf region and across the world”... wrote FIFA President Gianni Infantino, “This achievement rewards your outstanding twenty-year career at the highest level, which could only be achieved thanks to your tremendous commitment, exemplary motivation, hard work and incredible passion for our beautiful game. Your human qualities and skills, not to mention your remarkable contribution to the popularity and growth of women's football, or soccer, deserve our admiration”...

wrote Canada Soccer President Dr. Nick Bontis in December 2020, “When we think back to some of the great moments in sport, we can cherish the moment that our Canadian captain Christine Sinclair became the world’s all-time international goalscoring record holder. To score 185 goals at the international level is an incredible feat and we may never get to see such a thing again in our lifetime. Watching Christine Sinclair lead Canada on the world stage has offered all of us some of the best memories as sports fans and as proud Canadians”...

For Country

she was 16 years old when she made her debut in the Canadian youth program in 1999 with coach Tom McManus... won a silver medal with Canada at the FIFA U-19 Women’s World Championship Canada 2002... across two seasons, scored 27 goals in 19 international youth matches from 2001 to 2002, including 10 goals at the FIFA U-19 Women’s World Championship Canada 2002...

she was 16 years old when she made her debut for Canada on 12 March 2000 (she was Canada’s youngest-ever player)... represented Canada at the 2000 Algarve Women's Cup... she was one of five players that made her debut in Canadian head coach Even Pellerud’s debut (an 0:4 loss to China PR at the Algarve Women’s Cup)... in her second match, she scored her first international “A” goal for Canada on 14 March 2000 in Albufeira, POR (she was Canada’s youngest-ever goalscorer)… finished fourth with Canada at the 2000 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup... scored 10 goals in June 2010 (one less than the national record)... set national record with 15 goals in a season (2000)...

represented Canada at the 2001 Algarve Women's Cup... represented Canada at the 2002 Algarve Women's Cup... won a silver medal with Canada at the 2002 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup / FIFA World Cup Qualifiers for USA 2003... she played in a career-high 34 consecutive Canada matches from her 12 March 2000 debut to 7 March 2002... she was the seventh women's footballer to make her 50th appearance for Canada (04 September 2003)... represented Canada at the 2003 Algarve Women's Cup... finished fourth with Canada at the FIFA Women's World Cup USA 2003... finished third with Canada at the 2004 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying tournament in Costa Rica...

she was the fifth women's footballer to make her 75th appearance for Canada (25 February 2006)... won a silver medal with Canada at the 2006 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup / FIFA World Cup Qualifiers for China 2007... she was the third women's footballer to make her 100th appearance for Canada (30 August 2007)... won a bronze medal with Canada at the XV Pan American Games Rio 2007... represented Canada at the FIFA Women's World Cup China 2007... set national record with 16 goals in a season (2007)... finished first with Canada at the 2008 Cyprus Women's Cup... finished second with Canada at the 2008 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying tournament (Canada qualified for the Beijing 2008 Olympics)... reached the quarter-final phase with Canada at the Beijing 2008 Women's Olympic Football Tournament...

finished second with Canada at the 2009 Cyprus Women's Cup... she became the 10th women's footballer (the first Canadian) to score 100 international goals (20 February 2010)... won a gold medal with Canada at the 2010 CONCACAF championship / FIFA Women's World Cup Qualifiers for Germany 2011... finished first with Canada at the 2010 Cyprus Women's Cup... finished first with Canada at the 2011 Cyprus Women's Cup... represented Canada at the FIFA Women's World Cup Germany 2011... won a gold medal with Canada at the XVI Pan American Games Guadalajara 2011... won a silver medal with Canada at the 2012 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying tournament in Vancouver (Canada qualified for London 2012)... finished second with Canada at the 2012 Cyprus Women's Cup... won an Olympic bronze medal with Canada at the London 2012 Women's Olympic Football Tournament...

she was the first women's footballer to make her 200th appearance for Canada (12 December 2013)... finished sixth with Canada at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015... she tied a record by making 43 consecutive starts for Canada from 2013 to 2016 (equaling record set by Amy Walsh in 2001)... she played in a career-high 44 consecutive Canada matches from 2013 to 2016... scored her 159th international goal on 14 February 2016, surpassing Mia Hamm (158) for second place all-time... won a silver medal with Canada at the 2016 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship in USA (Canada qualified for Rio 2016)... finished first with Canada at the 2016 Algarve Women’s Cup... she was the first women’s footballer to make her 250th appearance for Canada (19 August 2016)... won an Olympic bronze medal with Canada at the Rio 2016 Women's Olympic Football Tournament...

won a silver medal with Canada at the 2018 Concacaf Women’s Championship in USA (Canada qualified for France 2019)... represented Canada at the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019... was the second player to score in five consecutive editions of the FIFA Women’s World Cup (both Marta and Christine scored in five editions from 2003 through 2019)... won a silver medal with Canada at the 2020 Concacaf Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship (Canada qualified for Tokyo 2020)... she was the fourth footballer (the first Canadian) to make 300 international appearances (21 July 2021)... won an Olympic gold medal with Canada at the Tokyo 2020 Women’s Olympic Football Tournament in 2021...

won a silver medal with Canada at the 2022 Concacaf Women’s Championship in Mexico (Canada qualified for Australia & New Zealand 2023)...

Individual Honours

International Timeline

Player Stats

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