All-time leading international scorer Christine Sinclair retires from Team Canada-InfoExpress
Christine Sinclair, the world's all-time leading international goal scorer, has announced her retirement from the Canadian women's national team.
Sinclair, 40, will continue on with the Portland Thorns, saying she will play in the NWSL next season.
The forward made her Canada debut in 2000 when she was 16, becoming her country's youngest player. Since then, she has made 327 appearances and scored 190 goals — the most any player, men's or women's, has ever tallied at the international level.
Sinclair hinted at her impending international retirement with a post on social media Thursday, showing a pair of boots hanging from a goal post.
Sinclair was called into Canada's squad for October friendlies, and said she would likely play a send-off match during the FIFA window that takes place from Nov. 27 to Dec. 5.
“Canada Soccer is working on announcing more matches, which will be made public next week,” said Sinclair.
The forward's decision means she will not take part in the 2024 Olympics in Paris, which she helped Canada qualify for last month in a playoff win over Jamaica.
Her last major international tournament saw Canada exit in the group stage at the 2023 World Cup. That was preceded by a gold medal win for Canada at the Olympics in Japan in 2021.
“After Tokyo, I knew I didn’t want to play in Paris,” Sinclair said.
“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.”
She added: “It was important to be part of the group trying to qualify for Paris, just to go out on a little bit better of a note than the World Cup.”
