Canadian has the most international goals in women’s or men’s football and her tally – 186 and counting – looks unbeatable

It was a long time coming. A slow climb. Many expected the Canada striker Christine Sinclair to break the USA legend Abby Wambach’s record of 184 international goals at the World Cup last summer. Except that was unlikely. With Canada playing a defensive game and Sinclair having managed nine World Cup goals in her four previous tournament finals, it was unlikely she would get the four needed to shift the crown over the US-Canada border.

Instead the moment would come seven months later, in much less glamorous circumstances. A seventh-minute penalty against St Kitts and Nevis in Concacaf Olympic qualifying last Wednesday equalled Wambach’s tally and, against a team ranked 127th in the world, it was inevitable the 36-year-old would then claim the record. It looked so simple. With Canada cruising at 3-0 Adriana Leon cut back to an unmarked Sinclair in the middle and the forward swept side-footed into the bottom corner. The celebrations were uncharacteristically bold for a player happy to fade into the background, with Sinclair bowling the ball towards nine players lined up as pins for a strike.

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Despite the small crowd, inferior opposition and small stage, the Canadian’s achievement – a record across women’s and men’s football – is deserving of praise. Yet she ducks it. “For me it has nothing to do with the record, it’s to have young girls be able to dream of playing professionally or represent their country, win Olympic medals,” she said. “To inspire young girls to pursue their crazy, wild dreams ... it’s pretty cool.”

She scored against Mexico on Tuesday too and 186 goals, and counting, in 291 appearances is phenomenal. If Wambach’s record seemed unbeatable, Sinclair’s seems even more so.

The game is changing. As professionalism increases, as the talent pool grows, as players are thrown into competitive environments from younger ages and there is a constant stream of talent ready to replace those coming towards the end of their careers, the longevity of players shrinks.

Canada has the second-highest number of women playing organised football in the world, with 290,087 players, behind the 9.5 million in the US (according to the 2019 Women’s Football Survey) and Sinclair has been the jewel in the crown of the Canada women’s team for 20 years, from the moment she stepped in at 16 in 2000. Their narrow semi-final defeat by the USA at the London Olympics in 2012 was perhaps the defining game of her career; the unplayable forward became one of only three players to have scored a hat-trick against their opponents, before Canada were knocked out by an Alex Morgan strike in extra time.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Christine Sinclair scores for Portland Thorns last year. She has managed her club game time to assist her in international football. Photograph: Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

She has an ability to find space where there is none. Her goals to games ratio, one in close to 1.5 matches, is testament to her determination to wait for an opening. She lurks like a hunter, waiting in defenders’ blind spots before pouncing. Her goals may not be worldies – though there are a few of those – but they are calculated.

The Portland Thorns player has shaped and managed her career around the national team. In the run-up to the 2015 World Cup in Canada she played nine club games; in 2016 she played 12 times for the Thorns.

But Canadian Soccer has done little to help her to her record. It could be argued that, with better commitment from the governing body, Sinclair would have passed Wambach’s record much sooner. It has hosted only nine home friendlies since that World Cup in Canada, including one in 2019 and two in 2018.

It will take someone special to topple this record. Vivianne Miedema, a very different player to Sinclair but with a similar attitude to the limelight, is on 69 Netherlands goals at 23 years old. At that rate she could catch the veteran’s number, but the game is getting tougher, opponents are getting better and Miedema is playing a huge number of club matches for Arsenal.

The seemingly impossible, though, is possible, as Sinclair’s dethroning of Wambach shows. The American forward said as much in a moving tribute to Sinclair on Instagram.

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“I’ve tried to live and play in a way honoring that legacy and privilege, so that little girls coming up after us will accomplish things we’ve only dreamed of,” she wrote. “So, as a girl who grew up dreaming of winning Olympic gold for my country before women’s soccer was even an Olympic sport, tonight I am celebrating.

“Tonight, I am celebrating the honor of passing that record, that legacy of our beautiful game, to the great Christine Sinclair: world-record holder for most international goals man or woman in history. Christine: History is made. Your victory is our victory. We celebrate with you.

“To every girl coming up in the pack with a dream to do something that doesn’t yet even exist: We believe in you to accomplish that we can’t even yet imagine. Your Pack is with you. And history awaits you.”

Talking points

• Aston Villa have signed the Austria international Sophie Maierhofer following her graduation from the University of Kansas. The 23-year-old, who can play in defence or midfield, joins the Championship leaders with 13 games played.

• Arsenal are waiting to hear whether their Women’s Super League game at Liverpool will go ahead next Thursday, with concerns over the quality of the Prenton Park pitch. There have been eight games postponed in the league this season, including two of Liverpool’s fixtures.

• Chelsea’s striker Beth England has been named the Barclays FA WSL player of the month for January after four goals in three games. Her coach, Emma Hayes, has been named manager of the month after masterminding a 4-1 win at title rivals Arsenal. London Bees’ Sarah Quantrill is the Championship player of the month.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Beth England, celebrating after scoring for Chelsea at Arsenal, is January’s WSL player of the month. Photograph: Simon Dael/BPI/Shutterstock

• The quality of WSL refereeing has again been in the spotlight after Reading were awarded a penalty for handball against Manchester United’s Katie Zelem despite the ball clearly being cleared by her head. Fara Williams scored from the spot, having had an earlier effort saved, to earn Reading a point last weekend.