Canada’s Christine Sinclair breaks record for international goals

Canadian striker Christine Sinclair has surpassed Abby Wambach’s record for the most international goals in men’s or women’s soccer.

No one in the history of international soccer – women’s or men’s – has scored as many goals as Christine Sinclair.

Canada’s Olympic qualifying journey just began on Wednesday, but Sinclair has already broken the record she came into the tournament chasing.

On Wednesday night, Canada opened up their Olympic qualifying tournament with a match against Saint Kitts and Nevis. Sinclair came into the night with Abby Wambach’s international goals record within reach. It took only seven minutes for Sinclair to find her first goal of the night. Saint Kitts and Nevis conceded a penalty and Sinclair stepped up to take it, slotting it into the corner for her 184th international goal.

Canada kept up the pressure and it didn’t take long for Sinclair to find her second goal of the night. In the 23rd minute, Sinclair stood relatively unmarked in the center of the penalty box and finished off a cross from Adriana Leon. Less than 30 minutes into Canada’s Olympic campaign, Sinclair scored her 185th international goal, giving her the all-time record.

https://twitter.com/Concacaf/status/1222655138839584770

Sinclair, who plays her club soccer with the Portland Thorns in the NWSL, has amassed nearly 300 caps in her 20-year career with the Canadian national team. This summer, she became the second player to score in at least five different World Cups, preceded only by Brazilian superstar Marta. After scoring on Wednesday night, she has now scored in three different Olympic qualifying tournaments.

Currently, Sinclair is trying to lead her team to their fourth Olympic appearance. They first qualified for the Olympic tournament in 2008, but finished with the bronze medal in both 2012 and 2016.

Sinclair’s record is likely to stand for quite some time. U.S. midfielder Carli Lloyd and Marta are the two players with the next highest goal-tallies at 122 and 112, respectively. The men’s record is currently held by Ali Daei of Iran, who retired in 2006 with 109 international goals. Cristiano Ronaldo has 96 international goals, putting him in the best position to surpass Daei, but nowhere close to Sinclair.

After their match against Saint Kitts and Nevis, Canada will face Jamaica on Saturday before finishing up the opening round of CONCACAF Olympic qualifying on Tuesday against Mexico. The top-two teams in Group B will then go on to the semifinals to face the top-two teams in Group A, which features the United States, Costa Rica, Panama and Haiti. The winners of the semifinals will go on to represent CONCACAF at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

With her record-setting night for Canada, Sinclair has cemented herself as the greatest soccer player in Canadian history and one of their greatest athletes of all time. And with so much of their Olympic journey still left unwritten, one thing is clear: Christine Sinclair is not done scoring.