Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal against the Republic of Ireland in World Cup qualifying made him the highest international goalscorer in men’s football, overtaking Iranian Ali Daei.
Ronaldo has scored 115 times in 186 games for his country, including three in his country’s triumphant Euro 2016 campaign and seven in the World Cup final.
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However, to become football’s all-time leading international goalscorer, Ronaldo must hunt Christine Sinclair’s incredible record.
Who is Christine Sinclair?
Christine Sinclair is a forward, playing primarily as an attacking midfielder, who is the captain of Canada’s National Women’s Team and the Portland Thorns.
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The 38-year-old has played in North America for her entire career, being selected by FC Gold Pride as the eighth overall pick in the 2008 Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) Expansion Draft after playing for the Portland Pilots while she was attending college.
She moved to Western New York Flash in 2011, then joined the Thorns two years later, for the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) inaugural season, where she has remained ever since.
Sinclair appeared in five World Cup finals and three Olympics for his country, winning two bronze medals and, in 2021, that elusive gold medal. She has also won the WPS Championship and the NWSL Championship twice, lifted the NWSL Challenge Cup in 2021 and is widely regarded as the greatest Canadian player of all time.
What is Christine Sinclair’s international record for goals?
Sinclair’s record currently stands at 189 goals in 310 games for Canada. She set a new international goalscoring record in January 2020, scoring her 184th and 185th international goals against St. Kitts and Nevis at the CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship.
The previous record was held by Abby Wambach, the former United States Women’s National Team striker who won Olympic gold twice and also won the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Wambach scored 184 goals in 255 games for his country before retiring in 2015.
As well as being her country’s all-time leading scorer, Sinclair also has more caps (310) for Canada than anyone else, male or female. This total places her fourth in the list of most capped players of all time, behind the American trio Kristine Lilly (354), Carli Lloyd (316) and Christie Pearce (311).
Sinclair has appeared in the World Cup a record four times as captain and has scored at least one goal in five different tournaments, a record she shares with Marta. She previously held the record for most goals scored in a single Olympic women’s football tournament, scoring six at London 2012, but that record was broken by Vivianne Miedema at the Games in 2021.
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