Vancouver, Canada – In front of 48,112 spectators, the largest crowd ever seen during a friendly match in her country, the striker of the Canadian women's national team, legend and pioneer of women's soccer Christine Sinclair, put on her crampons for the last time in an international friendly match against Australia.

Vancouver's BC Place was renamed Christine Sinclair Place on Tuesday evening to witness the final match of the striker's remarkable career on the final international date of the year. Fittingly, Canada emerged 1-0 victors thanks to a headed goal from midfielder Quinn in the 40th minute following a corner, with Sinclair helping his country score in his final match with the national team.

The evolution of women's football in the Concacaf region and around the world cannot be described without mentioning Sinclair's influence on the game. With 331 appearances for Canada, she holds the record for all-time leading scorer. time, both for men and women, in international soccer, with 190 goals.

Sinclair has also represented the Red and Whites at the FIFA Women's World Cup on six occasions, most recently last summer at Australia/New Zealand 2023. Sinclair is also a member of a select club of players who have scored in five Women's World Cups.

Sinclair has scored 10 goals in the FIFA Women's World Cups, 12 goals in the Olympic Games and 46 goals in all Concacaf competitions.

“Christine Sinclair is rightly considered a legend of world football and deserves great recognition and respect for the consistency she has shown year after year within the national team,” said the Concacaf president and FIFA Vice-President Victor Montagliani. “His goalscoring record is unparalleled and he has provided so many memorable moments on the pitch for Canada, at FIFA World Cups, Concacaf competitions and, of course, the Olympic Games,” added Montagliani .

“On top of that, it is important to recognize the enormous impact she had on the sport in Canada. At a time when the sport was still growing and in need of a star, she brought to the fore his passion for representing Canada, alongside countless brilliant performances, he has inspired so many Canadians to play and take an interest in the beautiful game. I wish him every success in the future,” concluded Montagliani.

Even at the 2002 Concacaf Women's Championship, Sinclair was already distinguishing herself among the region's top scorers.

She was joint Golden Boot winner at the 2002 CWC with seven goals. The same year, Sinclair won the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball at the 2002 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup after scoring 10 goals in the tournament.

Four years later, at the 2006 CWC, she was again joint Golden Boot winner with two goals, both in a 4–0 victory over Jamaica in the semi-final.

As captain, Sinclair won the CWC Trophy with Canada in 2010, scoring the winning goal from the penalty spot that gave his team a 1-0 victory over Mexico in the final.

During the 2012 Concacaf Women's Olympic Qualifiers in her native Canada, Sinclair once again demonstrated her goalscoring abilities by winning the Golden Boot with nine goals to help Canada qualify for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

With her three goals in the 2020 CWOQ, Sinclair became the top scorer in CWOQ history with 21 goals and helped Canada reach the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Sinclair led Canada to two Olympic bronze medals (London 2012, Rio 2016), before helping his country reach the top spot on the podium at Tokyo 2020, where Canada became gold champions for the first time in women's football.

As part of her journey to defending her Olympic title, Sinclair was part of the team that qualified for Paris 2024 after finishing second in the 2022 Concacaf Women's Championship, and also qualified for the Gold 2024 Concacaf Women's Cup, the inaugural edition of the tournament.

Sinclair has become a symbol of excellence and longevity in women's football, with her achievements widely praised across the Concacaf region and beyond.

As she says goodbye to the game better than she was when she started playing, Concacaf and the world recognize how she set the standard of excellence in Canadian soccer and women's sport, becoming one of the greatest athletes of all time and setting an example of resistance and sport. sportsmanship during his 23 years as a member of the national team.