Schmidt to retire from international football after World Cup
Published
One of Canada's most-capped players is set to call time on her international career.
Midfielder Sophie Schmidt announced Tuesday she will retire following the upcoming 2023 Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
The 34-year-old Winnipeg native has made 218 appearances in a Canada shirt, second-most all-time behind teammate Christine Sinclair's 319.
Schmidt says she was prepared to retire immediately amid the team's ongoing dispute with Canada Soccer, but CanWNT coach Bev Priestman convinced her to "see this fight through" and appear at this summer's tournament set to kick off on June 20.
After having represented Canada at different youth levels, Schmidt made her senior debut in 2005. With the CanWNT, Schmidt has appeared at four World Cups and won three Olympic medals - a pair of bronze at London 2012 and Rio 2016 and gold at Tokyo 2020. Schmidt has scored 20 international goals.
Schmidt has spent the past four seasons with the Houston Dash following three years in Germany with FFC Frankfurt (now Eintracht) and two with Sky Blue FC.