Christine Sinclair named to Canada World Cup Squad

It wasn’t really ever in doubt, was it? Canada have announced their final 23 players who will be attending the World Cup and included among them is Canada’s captain and all time leading scorer Christine Sinclair.

This will be Sinclair’s fifth ever World Cup, tying Karina LeBlanc’s previous record for Canada. She has overseen two bronze medal performances for Canada at the Olympics but has never finished higher than fourth at the World Cup.

Sinclair, with 181 goals from 281 international appearances, is of course only three goals away from tying Abby Wambach’s all time international record for goals scored. She might be tired of hearing about it, but she also has four goals in her previous eight games for her country, a strike rate that would put her on track to beat the record in France.

The University of Portland graduate and two-time NCAA champion got her start with her national team at 16 years old in 2000, scored her first goal for her country in her second ever start, and hasn’t slowed down since. Her 281 appearances for Canada are enough for third all time in international caps, a statistic made all the more remarkable given how few games Canada plays compared with the USWNT.

Canada will be placed Group E with Cameroon, New Zealand and the Netherlands at the World Cup and will be expected to make a run but are in the process of integrating a new generation of young players into the full national team, with only nine players of 23 returning from the 2015 World Cup they hosted.