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Who is the best women's soccer player? Christine Sinclair, or “Sinc” as she is fondly referred to, falls somewhere between the obvious and not obvious choice for this title.
Sinclair is not the kind of name that’s in your face in the headlines all the time like Alex Morgan or Sam Kerr. She doesn’t have the flash or the fan following of Tobin Heath, the individual trophy case of Marta or Birgit Prinz, or the jaw-dropping biggest stage performance like Carli Lloyd. But if you ask who is the best women's soccer player in the world, Christine Sinclair is the answer.
That is also to say my assertion is neither random nor unfounded. This is not like, for example, last year when FIFA decided Florida State and Venezuela forward Deyna Castellanos was among the top three best female players in the ENTIRE WORLD. Sorry but no, not even close. There is no shortage of evidence for The Sinc Argument.
Who Is The Best Women's Soccer Player?
To start off, Sinclair is the second-best worldwide in all-time international goals scored (yeah, men or women) behind only Abby Wambach. However, Sinclair’s accomplishment is debatably more impressive than what so many have deemed The GOAT. Sinclair has scored 173 goals not with the USWNT team but with Canada.
The CWNT is not a bunch of chumps — it is consistently ranked in the top 10 in the world and boasts talents such as Jessie Fleming and Desiree Scott and, back then, Carmelina Moscato and Charmaine Hooper — but, in every position around the field for nearly its entire history, the CWNT has not held a candle to the USWNT. Canada has met 58 times with its neighbors to the south and lost 48 times, winning just three. (Side note: Sinc has scored 11 times against the U.S.) Results against powerhouse Germany? One win and 15 losses. You get what I am saying here. Christine Sinclair has put up insane numbers with teams that are more like, on the men’s side, Croatia than France.
At the club level, she has won championships with three different teams: the 2010 WPS Championship with FC Gold Pride, the 2011 WPS Championship with the Western New York Flash, and the 2013 and 2017 NWSL Championships with Portland Thorns FC. To be considered a candidate for best in the world, you have to have won something with your club. Haters will say it’s fake but this is a bottom line.
Unlike the national team, with a club side, players work day in and day out over the course of grueling, nearly nine-month seasons to make the playoffs and clinch a championship. The great players don’t have (wo)man of the match performances once a month and expect to achieve what the teams striving to achieve. *cough* Carli Lloyd, where’s your club trophy at? What’s more, Sinc has won with three different clubs, which adds another impressive dimension to this feat.
In that same vein of consistency, what Christine Sinclair is STILL doing at age 35 would make CR7 feel inspired.
She’s putting together a strong case to be the 2018 MVP of NWSL, which many in the sport consider to be the most competitive league in the world. With current fifth-place Portland, Captain Sinc is tied for fourth in goals with seven and first in assists with five. This is in a league, in particular, in which she is considered so far past prime that if prime were a line in the sand, it would be a dot to Sinclair.
For example, to use Portland’s recent game against Houston as a case study, Sinclair was five years older than 100 percent of the players on the field (starters and subs) and a full decade older than more than half of them. And remember, she’s one of the league leaders in points. Brazil’s Marta, another “old head” at 32 (again, relatively speaking) continues to be fantastic for Orlando, but she can’t compete with the Canadian in these production categories. For the national team too, she’s made six appearances so far this calendar year and scored four goals. Sinc is the definition of a fine wine.
Christine Sinclair Amazing second goal puts Canada 2 up against Costa Rica, #CWOQ2016 #womensfootball pic.twitter.com/iB6tjAmsHA
— WomensSoccerUnited (@WSUasa) February 20, 2016
Her long history of success is both jaw-dropping and intriguing in a sport where there is heated debate of whether the greatest were as outstanding as they were because of a general dearth of quality players in the time they played. Could Chinese legend Sun Wen tear it up in the NWSL right now? How do you compare Brianna Scurry to Hope Solo? No doubt the debate will never really be put to rest, but Christine Sinclair has played in nearly every “generation” of the sport’s developed history and proved herself in all of them.
Are you still not convinced?!
Here are just a few of her honors laid out unfluffed for good measure:
College
- 2x National Champion with University of Portland
- 3x All-American
- 2x Hermann Trophy winner, awarded to the NCAA's best women’s soccer player (third woman to win it in back-to-back years)
- 1x Honda-Broderick Cup winner, awarded to best female college athlete of the year
Club
- 2x WPS Champion (including MVP of the 2011 WPS Championship game)
- 2x NWSL Champion
- Tied for most NWSL play off goals
Country
- Canada’s all-time leading scorer
- Second all-time international goals scored (most active)
- 3x Olympic appearances
- 2x Olympic Bronze Medalist
- 4x FIFA World Cup appearances
- 1x CONCACAF Champion
- 13x Canada Soccer Player of the Yea
- 7x FIFA World Player of the Year nominations
Barring disaster, *knock on wood* Sinclair is set to appear for Canada at the World Cup in France next year, marking her fifth time taking part in the biggest tournament in women’s football.
So, when next summer rolls around or anytime before that in which you might bas yourself who is the best women's soccer player, take your firmly glued eyes off of Alex Morgan for just a second to watch the wonder that is Christine Sinclair in her undeniable, oft quiet brilliance. She’s not gonna be in the game for much longer.
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