Soccer in Canada
France
17 Sep 2026
07:00 EDT
Women's U-20
Christine Sinclair
12
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Bio
Christine Margaret Sinclair... she/her... speaks English... soccer family (parents Bill and Sandra Sinclair, uncles Bruce, Brian, Brent and Sue Gant, cousins Dylan and Brayden Gant, great grandfather Norm Garriock)... both her father Bill and mother Sandra were born in Vancouver... both her father Bill and uncle Brian won 撸撸视频 National Championships Challenge Trophy with New Westminster Blues in 1972... Christine was less than four months old when her father Bill, as team manager, helped Vancouver Firefighters FC win the 1983 撸撸视频 National Championships in Thunder Bay, Ontario (she was just seven years old when they won it all again in 1990 in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia)... she grew up playing soccer, baseball and basketball... she was four years old when she started playing soccer for South Burnaby Metro Club (she wore #10 for the Burna Bees)... growing up, favourites included Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres, Liverpool FC...
she earned a degree in Life Science from the University of Portland in 2005... she earned an honorary degree from both Simon Fraser University (honorary doctorate of laws degree in October 2013) and Kwantlen Polytechnic University (in October 2015)... has served as a global ambassador for the FIFA Live Your Goals campaign (starting in 2011)... has served as an ambassador for the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada...
she was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada on 30 June 2017 (she was invested on 24 January 2018)... honoured by the 撸撸视频 Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2025... recipient of The Best FIFA Special Award in recognition of setting the world鈥檚 all-time international goalscoring record... was part of the National Team that won the 2010 Concacaf Championship, recognised as a 撸撸视频 Team of Distinction... was part of Team Canada that won an Olympic Bronze Medal at London 2012, recognised as a 撸撸视频 Team of Distinction and honoured by the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame... was part of Team Canada that won an Olympic Bronze Medal at Rio 2016, recognised as a 撸撸视频 Team of Distinction... was part of Team Canada that won an Olympic Gold Medal at Tokyo in 2021, recognised as a 撸撸视频 Team of Distinction... served as Canada鈥檚 flag bearer at the London 2012 Olympic Closing Ceremonies... recipient of 撸撸视频鈥檚 President鈥檚 Award in 2022... a 14-time 撸撸视频 Player of the Year... recipient of Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012...
on 2 June 2017, the Christine Sinclair Community Centre was named in her honour by the City of Burnaby (formerly known as Fortius Sport & Health where in fact Canada had sometimes trained with Sinclair between 2013 and 2016)... was honoured by the City of Vancouver whose Mayor Kennedy Stewart proclaimed 29 January 2020 as 鈥淐hristine Sinclair 185 Day鈥� (鈥�...whereas now in her 21st international season, Christine Sinclair has scored more international 鈥淎鈥� goals than any of player in the history of soccer...鈥�)... celebrated by 撸撸视频 for breaking the world international goalscoring record ahead of the 8 April 2022 match at BC Place (her teammates wore 12 Sinclair shirts as part of the pre-match warmup)...
in December 2019, named 撸撸视频 Player of the Decade (2010-2019)... across 19 years from 2002 to 2020, she was an eight-time top-5 finalist in voting for the The Canadian Press Female Athlete of the Year (at 19 years, it was the longest era by a team-sport athlete, with only golfers Marlene Stewart-Streit 35 years, Ada MacKenzie 21 years, and Stan Leonard 20 years recognized across a longer era)... in 2020, both Alphonso Davies and Christine Sinclair were the fifth pair of athletes from the same sport to win The Canadian Press Athlete of the Year awards in the same year (athletics 1936, golf 2000, ice hockey 2007, tennis 2013 and 2014)...
with Canada at the Olympic Games, won a gold medal (Tokyo 2021) and two bronze medals (London 2012 and Rio 2016)... she was in fact one of three players that won three consecutive Olympic medals (Sophie Schmidt, Desiree Scott, Christine Sinclair)... Concacaf champion with Canada (2010)鈥� was the second footballer to represent Canada at five FIFA Women鈥檚 World Cups (USA 2003, China 2007, Germany 2011, Canada 2015, France 2019), including a fourth-place finish at USA 2003... has represented Canada at four Olympic Games... has won 10 Concacaf medals (2002 silver, 2004 bronze, 2006 silver, 2008 silver, 2010 gold, 2012 silver, 2016 silver, 2018 silver, 2020 silver, 2022 silver)... won medals at two Pan American Games (bronze at Rio 2007 and gold at Guadalajara 2011)...
won a silver medal with Canada at the FIFA U-19 Women鈥檚 World Championship Canada 2002鈥� as a youth player in 2002, was noted by the FIFA U-19 Women鈥檚 World Championship Technical Study Group (鈥渆xcellent goalscorer, dangerous, great crosses鈥�)...
with Portland Thorns FC, a two-time NWSL Shield winner (2016, 2021), three-time NWSL Championship winner (2013, 2017, 2022), NWSL Fall Series winner (2020), NWSL Challenge Cup winner (2021), and International Women鈥檚 Cup winner (2021)... a two-time WPS Championship winner, once with FC Gold Pride (2010) and once with Western New York Flash (2011)... a USL W-League Championship winner with Vancouver Whitecaps FC (2006)... a two-time NCAA winner at the University of Portland (2002, 2005).. a Metro Women鈥檚 Soccer League winner with Vancouver UBC Alumni... a BC Soccer provincial championship winner with Vancouver UBC Alumni (2000)...
at age 15, she attended matches in Portland at the FIFA Women鈥檚 World Cup USA 1999... served as a draw assistant at the Official Draw for the FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007 on 3 March 2007... served as a special guest at the Official Draw for the FIFA Women鈥檚 World Cup Canada 2015 on 6 December 2014... part of the 撸撸视频 team that met Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Parliament Hill on 6 June 2016 ahead of their international match one day later in Ottawa... part of the 撸撸视频 team that met Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Langford ahead of their international match on 8 April 2022 (a surprise visit by the Prime Minister at the team hotel)...
one of four members of iS4, a group that is dedicated to empowering others through workshops, speaking engagements, team building, and soccer camps... has served as a brand ambassador for Nike... has served as an ambassador for Canadian Tire鈥檚 Jumpstart program... featured in the Coca-Cola advertisement 鈥淗appiness is seeing yourself in the game鈥� ahead of the FIFA Women鈥檚 World Cup Canada 2015 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8f5gj8yZ5GY)... in Canada, was featured on the front cover of FIFA 16 video game by EA Sports (alongside Lionel Messi)... served as a spokeperson for A&W Canada鈥檚 Burgers to Beat Multiple Sclerosis Day (she featured in advertisements alongside Allen Lulu)...
from China PR 2007, was noted by the FIFA Women鈥檚 World Cup Technical Study Group (鈥漵trong striker with good technique and shooting ability鈥�)... from Beijing 2008, was noted by the Olympic Football Tournament Technical Study Group (鈥漞xperienced, strong defender with good tackling and ball-shielding skills鈥�)... from Germany 2011, was noted by the FIFA Women鈥檚 World Cup Technical Study Group (鈥漣ntelligent striker who links attack with supporting midfielders鈥�)... scored a memorable free-kick goal for Canada in the opening match against host Germany at the FIFA Women鈥檚 World Cup Germany 2011 (a 1:2 loss to Germany, http://www.fifa.com/womensworldcup/video/video=1475532)... from London 2012, was noted by the Olympic Football Tournament Technical Study Group (鈥漜harismatic attacker with good passing skills and technique, dangerous in front of goal鈥�)...
said coach Even Pellerud in May 2000, 鈥渉uge potential as a striker鈥�... said coach Pellerud in June 2000, 鈥渟he has that special quality that I cannot teach; she is just there and knocks the ball in with head, chest, or foot鈥�...
said Andrea Neil in 2006, 鈥渁nybody who has played with her knows she can change a game and urn it on it鈥檚 head. You can say she is young, but she has a world of experience under her belt. That makes her our most reliable player and I believe the world鈥檚 best right now鈥�... said Sinclair after breaking her nose in a FIFA Women鈥檚 World Cup match, 鈥渋t wasn鈥檛 bleeding or anything, so I said 鈥榓ll right, let me back on鈥欌��... said of her attacking skills in 2011, 鈥淚 really don鈥檛 think about scoring, but instead think more about being dangerous鈥�... said teammate Karina LeBlanc, Christine is 鈥渉umble, but willing to do anything鈥�... said coach John Herdman, 鈥渇or me she is like a Rolls Royce: everything about her is class鈥�... wrote Cathal Kelly in 2012, 鈥渇ew athletes ever have spoken so loudly through their actions and so softly on the verbal front鈥�... said teammate Danielle Foxhoven, 鈥渟he鈥檚 a beast athletically: she鈥檚 fast, she鈥檚 big, she鈥檚 tall, she鈥檚 strong, but she thinks. She can use all of those skills because she thinks faster than anybody. She thinks on another level. The good Lord blessed her鈥�... said Christine in 2015, 鈥淚 am the person I am today because of football; I started when I was four years old and you learn so many valuable lessons as a kid in a team sport (like) teamwork, selflessness, and respecting your teammates and opponents鈥�... said John Herdman in 2016, 鈥渟he鈥檚 such a great Canadian and this is reflected in her leadership of our team, not only in the way that she can inspire her teammates, but also in the way that she can inspire all Canadians鈥�... said in 2017 of playing for Portland Thorns FC, 鈥渋t's about the community and the organization and standing up for that: being a good person, being a good teammate, being a good member of this community鈥�... said John Herdman in 2017, 鈥渆very single day the decisions she makes about her football career and around her personal life, they are all about pulling on that red jersey鈥�...
said Christine in 2017 of her appointment as an Officer of the Order of Canada, 鈥淚 am a very, very proud Canadian, I am proud of where I am from, so to be recognised in this nature is surreal. It鈥檚 not something you can dream about happening to you: I can dream of winning a World Cup or an Olympic gold medal, that鈥檚 my job; but to have your country recognise you, I don鈥檛 even know what to say鈥�... said Christine in 2020, 鈥淚 got about every day trying to be the best Canadian that I can in my own way鈥�...
wrote 撸撸视频 President Steven Reed in 2019, 鈥淐hristine Sinclair is a once-in-a-generation athlete that has been at the heart of Canadian sport for over 20 years, but what she accomplished in the past 10 years has changed the sport forever in our country. Christine is the 撸撸视频 Player of the Decade and unquestionably one of the greatest and most-loved athletes Canada has ever watched鈥�...
said Christine Sinclair on 29 January 2020 after breaking the world record, 鈥淚鈥檓 a very proud Canadian. When I first joined the National Team, I had goals, dreams and aspirations of passing Mia Hamm one day. I should have aimed higher, not knowing that Abby Wambach would have beaten her, but I never could have imagined reaching the totals that I have. For all who have supported me through my career, a massive thank you鈥�... said coach Kenneth Heiner-M酶ller after Sinclair broke the world record in 2020, 鈥渋t鈥檚 a massive privilege to be part of this. It is history created right in front of your eyes and something I鈥檓 only a tiny little part of and it鈥檚 such a privilege and I鈥檓 so happy for Sinc鈥�...
SIMPLY THE GREATEST - WORLD鈥橲 ALL-TIME INTERNATIONAL GOALSCORING RECORD:
wrote 撸撸视频 President Steven Reed in 2020, 鈥淐anada鈥檚 Christine Sinclair is the greatest international goalscorer in the world鈥檚 most beloved sport. We have watched her grow from teenage star on the local grounds to international superstar who is adored around the world. For more than 20 years, she has served as a global ambassador to our nation, continually raising the bar for our sport through her achievements on the pitch and her humble actions off the pitch鈥�... wrote 撸撸视频 General Secretary Peter Montopoli in 2020, 鈥淐hristine Sinclair, an absolute treasure to Canada and Canadian sport, is truly deserving of her remarkable achievement in setting the world鈥檚 all-time international goalscoring record. She has been making history throughout her career, leading Canada with skill, determination, pride and honour on the international stage. There is only one Christine Sinclair and she is simply greatest of all time鈥�... wrote Concacaf President Victor Montagliani, 鈥淐hristine鈥檚 achievements have made her an icon in Canada. She transcends the sport and is a wonderful role model for people across the country. I hope she continues leading the line for the national team and scoring goals. I thank her for the enormous contribution she has made to the sport in Canada, the Concacaf region and across the world鈥�... wrote FIFA President Gianni Infantino, 鈥淭his achievement rewards your outstanding twenty-year career at the highest level, which could only be achieved thanks to your tremendous commitment, exemplary motivation, hard work and incredible passion for our beautiful game. Your human qualities and skills, not to mention your remarkable contribution to the popularity and growth of women's football, or soccer, deserve our admiration鈥�...
wrote 撸撸视频 President Dr. Nick Bontis in December 2020, 鈥淲hen we think back to some of the great moments in sport, we can cherish the moment that our Canadian captain Christine Sinclair became the world鈥檚 all-time international goalscoring record holder. To score 185 goals at the international level is an incredible feat and we may never get to see such a thing again in our lifetime. Watching Christine Sinclair lead Canada on the world stage has offered all of us some of the best memories as sports fans and as proud Canadians鈥�...
Honours
Individual Awards
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2025撸撸视频 Hall of Fame
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2022撸撸视频 President鈥檚 Award
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2020撸撸视频 Players of the Month (01) January / janvier
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2019撸撸视频 Players of the Month (07) July / juillet
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2019Canadian Sports Awards True Sport Award / Prix sport pur
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2019撸撸视频 Player of the Decade Recipient / R茅cipiendaire
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2018撸撸视频 Players of the Year Women's / F茅minin
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2018Concacaf Female Best XI Forward / attaquante
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2017Order of Canada Officer / Officier
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2016Contender for FIFA Women's Player of the Year Candidate (8th place)