Christine Sinclair, soccer’s ‘silent superstar,’ opens up about MS awareness, gender equality and using her voice

Not only is Christine Sinclair the most successful soccer player to ever compete for Canada, but the standout forward also stands atop one of the sport’s most notable all-time lists with 190 international goals scored. That’s 68 more goals than the men’s scoring leader, Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, 88 more than seven-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi, and six more than her next closest female player, USWNT legend Abby Wambach (184).

But we’re not surprised if you didn’t know this stat – or much else about Sinclair, for that matter. Known as a “silent superstar,” Sinclair does her best to avoid the spotlight. Yet ahead of her sixth FIFA Women’s World Cup appearance, the 39-year-old is sharing more than ever before, and she recently sat down with NBC Sports as part of its new 12-episode podcast, “My New Favorite Futbolista.” Hosted in English by World Cup champion Meghan Klingenberg and in Spanish by Mexico’s Janelly Farías, the podcast introduces listeners to the World Cup’s most inspiring players, their personal stories and the causes they’re fighting for off the pitch.

For Sinclair, those causes include pulling back the veil on life as a professional athlete, championing gender equality and spreading awareness about multiple sclerosis, a disease that her mother Sandra Sinclair battled for 40 years before her death in February 2022. She addressed both topics and more in her recent memoir, “Playing the Long Game,” which she penned following a triumphant performance for Team Canada at the Tokyo Olympics where the team won its first ever gold medal.

“As athletes, we kind of like just suffer in silence at times, and people just see what happens on the soccer field and they don’t see what goes on behind the scenes,” says