CanWNT icon Christine Sinclair announces international retirement ahead of final bow in December
Canadian icon Christine Sinclair announced Friday her intention to retire from the Canadian Women's National Team in the coming months, bringing an end to a 24-year career that began on March 12, 2000.
With 190 international goals to her name – more than any other player in international footballing history – Sinclair steps away from the Canadian picture having secured Olympic gold (2021) and bronze medals (2016, 2012) for Team Canada, but will continue with the Portland Thorns in the NWSL where she most recently captained the team to a third league title in 2022.
Canada is set to play Brazil in Montreal (Oct. 28) and Halifax (Oct. 30) available to watch on OneSoccer, but it may not be Sinclair's final appearance, with potential west coast friendlies in November and December yet to be announced but already being teased.
"Honestly, you can't play forever," Sinclair told Reuters. "And this seems like a good time to be done.
"Canada Soccer is working on announcing more matches, which will be made public next week. The way the schedule is lining up, it'll be a nice way to end it."
It's official 🇨🇦❤️
— Canada Soccer (@CanadaSoccerEN) October 20, 2023
The Greatest Goalscorer of All Time is retiring from international football. #ThankYouSinc 🐐 pic.twitter.com/6wDioHXx4y
Sinclair was part of the most recent CanWNT squad for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, appearing in the tournament for the sixth time when she started against Nigeria at 40 years old. She then went on to help Canada qualify for the 2024 Olympics in Paris after the No Official Nicknames defeated Jamaica twice in qualifying in September.
The timeline of events has led Sinclair to this moment.
"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.
"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.
"And then what started to creep in for me is the excitement of having an off-season and FIFA windows being a break, and being able to spend more time with my family and go on vacation and things like that," she added.
"Honestly, I haven't been able to do that since I went to college."
