THE GOAL-SCORING MACHINE: A look at the milestones of Christine Sinclair

How many goals will Christine Sinclair finish her remarkable career with? (Alain Mounic/Presse Sports via USA TODAY Sports)

Christine Sinclair is the first Canadian to score international “A” goals in three separate decades.

She scored her first goal for Canada on March 14, 2000 at the Algarve Cup in Albufeira, Portugal. She was Canada’s youngest player in her debut two days earlier and Canada’s youngest ever goalscorer in the March 14 loss to Norway (Canada had an early 1-0 lead after Sinclair beat Bente Nordby in the eighth minute). Three months later, she scored her first competitive goal against Mexico at the Concacaf Gold Cup on June 24, shortly after turning 17-years-old.

Three years later, Sinclair scored less than five minutes into her first Women’s World Cup match, a 1-0 header past Germany’s Silke Rottenberg at USA 2003. Germany won the match and the tournament while Canada produced a fourth place finish with the 20-year old Sinclair up front. It was also the first of five consecutive Women’s World Cups in which Sinclair scored, a record she shares with Brazil’s Marta.

A 14-time Canadian player of the year, Sinclair has led or co-led Canada in goal-scoring 16 times, including nine of those seasons in double digits. She broke Silvana Burtini’s season goalscoring record as a rookie in 2000 (15 goals), then broke her own record in 2007 (16 goals) and again in 2012 (23 goals). On July 14, 2007, she surpassed Charmaine Hooper as Canada’s all-time goal-scoring leader with her 72nd international goal. Three years later on February 20, 2010, she became Canada’s first 100-goal scorer in the same match that she passed Andrea Neil for the WNT record in international “A” appearances (133).

Throughout her career, Sinclair has scored on the biggest stages. Some of those goals include the opening matches of the FIFA Women’s World Cup at Germany 2011 (that free kick against the hosts in front of 73,680 fans) and Canada 2015 (the 92nd-minute penalty winner in front of 53,058 at Commonwealth Stadium vs. China PR), the Round of 16 at Canada 2015 (Canadian-record crowd of 54,027 vs. Switzerland), the 2008 Olympic Games (against the hosts with 52,600 in attendance) and the bronze-medal match at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (the winning goal against the hosts in front 39,718 fans).

She also scored a most memorable hat-trick against USA in the London 2012 Olympic Semi-finals, with 28,828 in attendance at Coventry and a record average audience of 2.4 million viewers watching back home on TSN. Sinclair’s heroics have been tied to just about every women’s national team big moment during her career, from winning goals that secured the Rio 2016 Olympic bronze medal and 2010 Concacaf Women’s Championship to scoring goals that qualified Canada for three Women’s World Cups (China 2007, Germany 2011, France 2019) and two Olympic Games (2012 and 2016).

She has scored 10 goals at the FIFA Women’s World Cup (21 matches across five editions), 19 goals at the Concacaf Women’s Championship (17 matches across four FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifying tournaments), 11 goals at the Olympic Games (15 matches across three tournaments), and 18 goals at the Concacaf Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship (17 matches across five tournaments). She was the top scorer at the London 2012 Olympic Games with six goals and selected to be Canada’s flag bearer for the Closing Ceremonies.

Sinclair has scored goals in 21 countries and has scored against 42 different opponents. Alongside her goalscoring records, she also holds the Canadian international records for matches played (289 before Wednesday, third most in the world), minutes played (25,026), assists (55), and wins (155). Throughout her career, Canada have won 76 percent of the matches in which she has scored (98 of 129 matches before Wednesday).

CHRISTINE SINCLAIR GOAL-SCORING TOTALS