Canada's Christine Sinclair breaks Abby Wambach's international goals record
After Abby Wambach’s six-year reign, soccer has a new international goals queen.
Canada’s Christine Sinclair scored her 184th and 185th career goal on Wednesday in an Olympic qualifying match against Saint Kitts and Nevis to surpass Wambach’s record of 184 goals.
Her goal came in the 23rd minute, increasing Canada’s lead to 4-0 against an overmatched squad.
🇨🇦HISTORIC MOMENT IN FOOTBALL!!!🇨🇦@CanadaSoccerEN’s Christine Sinclair nets her 185th international goal to become the all-time record holder!#CWOQ #WeBelong #Sinclair185 pic.twitter.com/kHeABe1elf
— Concacaf (@Concacaf) January 29, 2020
Sinclair would later be subbed out in the 47th minute, with her team up 7-0. Canada eventually won 11-0.
Wambach soon responded by tweeting a congratulatory message and video to Sinclair.
Christine: History is made. Your victory is our victory. We celebrate with you.
And to every girl coming up in the Pack with a dream to achieve that which doesn’t yet even exist: We believe in you. Your Pack is with you. And history awaits you.@sincy12 https://t.co/rNxjjpV7tZ pic.twitter.com/xkUjLtNXHn— Abby Wambach (@AbbyWambach) January 29, 2020
This has been a long time coming for the 36-year-old Sinclair, who made her debut for the Canadian senior team at the age of 16 at the 2000 Algarve Cup. Across two decades of international competition and 290 caps, Sinclair forged a career that will go down as the greatest in Canadian history.
Sinclair’s goal total sits atop both the men’s and women’s leaderboard, with Wambach, Mia Hamm (158) and Kristine Lilly (130) directly behind her. Iran’s Ali Daei leads all men with 109.
The big question now is how much distance Sinclair will put between herself and Wambach, and if anyone will ever be able to come close to her record.
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