The Concacaf Double Century Club [updated]

 

by Jen Cooper

In the history of international soccer, no man has yet reached the milestone of 200 senior caps, but more than 20 women have already passed that mark. During Thursday’s SheBelieves Cup opening matchday, Canadian international Sophie Schmidt joined the exclusive “double century” club when she came on as a second-half sub against the United States. She earned cap #201 on Sunday versus Argentina.

The Houston Dash midfielder, who scored the game-winning goal in the 2020 Challenge Cup final, is the 14th player from Concacaf to feature in 200 international matches. No other confederation has more double-century players (UEFA has the next highest total with six).

So here’a look at the 13 women from Concacaf who reached 200 caps before Schmidt. Players who are still active are listed in bold blue. Cap totals current through February 21 SheBelieves Cup games.

 

354: Kristine Lilly (USA)

First cap: August 3, 1987
Last cap: November 5, 2010

The “Queen of Caps” represented the USA for more than 23 years, getting her first cap just days after her 16th birthday and retiring at the beginning of 2011 when she was pregnant with her second child. Lilly was the first American (male or female) to reach the century mark, and the first player in the world to reach the double-century in 2000 (adidas even made her commemorative gold cleats for the occasion). No player has played more Women’s World Cup matches than Kristine Lilly (30), and she’s #4 on the all-time international scoring list with 130 goals.

311: Christie Pearce Rampone

First cap: February 28, 1997
Last cap: September 20, 2015

The longtime USWNT captain was a member of both the 1999 and 2015 Women’s World Cup-winning teams. She became the oldest field player to feature in a World Cup final in 2015, when she came on as a second-half-sub at the age of 40. Ongoing injuries kept Pearce Rampone out of contention for a 2016 Olympic roster spot, and she ended her pro career in 2017. She’s one of just four Americans to play in WUSA, WPS and NWSL.

 

298: Carli Lloyd 

First cap: July 10, 2005

The 2015 Women’s World Cup Golden Ball and Golden Boot winner is the oldest player on the current USWNT roster but you wouldn’t necessarily know it by her stats as she keeps going and going … Lloyd scored the game-winning goal in both the 2008 and 2012 Olympic gold medal matches, and famously netted a hat trick in just 16 minutes in the 2015 World Cup final. She could very likely hit the 300-cap mark this spring.

 

296: Christine Sinclair 

First cap: March 12, 2000

The world’s all-time international goal leader (186) will miss the 2021 SheBelieves Cup due to injury, but Sinclair has rarely missed a match since debuting for Canada as a 16-year-old in the 2000 Algarve Cup. She started scoring right away and never looked back — Sinclair is one of just two players to record a hat trick against the USWNT, and scored in two of the three all-time Canadian victories against the Americans. She also led NWSL in scoring during the recent Fall Series, with six goals in four games.

276: Mia Hamm

First cap: August 3, 1987
Last cap: December 8, 2004

Hamm became the youngest played ever capped by the USWNT when she played her first match in 1987 at the age of 15. She went on to start for the USA at four World Cups and three Olympics, and broke the international scoring record along the way — she broke the then-record of 107 goals in May 1999 and ended her career with a total of 158. It took another nine years before her mark was broken, by Abby Wambach in 2013 (later passed by Sinclair last year). Hamm still has the USWNT record for assists with 145 (many of them to Wambach).

 

274: Julie Foudy

First cap: July 29, 1988
Last cap: December 8, 2004

The longtime ESPN broadcaster and former USWNT captain was a starter at four Women’s World Cups and three Olympic tournaments. Part of the “Fab Five” that helped win the 1991 and 1999 World Cups, Foudy retired along with teammates Hamm and Fawcett shortly after the 2004 Olympics. She finished her interntional career with 55 goals and 55 assists.

 

255: Abby Wambach

First cap: September 9, 2001
Last cap: December 16, 2015

The 5-10 forward earned her first cap while a senior at Florida and scored her first of 184 international goals a few months later. Paired with the legenday Mia Hamm in the first few years of her career, Wambach tore up the scoring charts, scoring the game-winner in the 2004 Olympic gold medal match and the dramatic extra-time equalizer in the 2011 World Cup quarterfinal. She passed Hamm’s scoring record in 2013 and helped the USWNT win the World Cup two years later. She won Founders Cup III in the WUSA, and also reached the playoffs in both the WPS and NWSL.

 

241: Joy Fawcett

First cap: August 3, 1987
Last cap: August 26, 2004

Joy Fawcett, the original “soccer mom,” played EVERY minute of four Women’s World Cups and three Olympics for the USWNT, helping the team reach the semifinals in every tournament and snag two WWC trophies and two Olympic gold medals. Three times she came back from having a baby (1994, 1997 and 2001) to regain her starting spot. She also played three seasons in the WUSA for the San Diego Spirit, suiting up just six weeks after giving birth to her third daughter. Fawcett was also the first coach for the UCLA women’s varsity program.

 

231: Heather O’Reilly

First cap: March 1, 2002
Last cap: September 15, 2016

Affectionately known as HAO, O’Reilly was one of the youngest players in USWNT program history to earn her first cap, just a few months after her 17th birthday. She missed out on the 2003 Women’s Women’s Cup since she broke her leg right before the tourney, but was a mainstay on the USWNT roster from the 2004 Olympics until her retirement from her international soccer. She played three more seasons as pro, helping North Carolina to NWSL titles in 2018 and 2019.

 

206: Tiffeny Milbrett

First cap: August 4, 1991
Last cap: October 23, 2005

Milbrett was the USWNT’s leading scorer at the 1995 World Cup, the 1999 World Cup and the 2000 Olympics (scoring the stoppage-time equalizer in the gold medal match). She reached the magie milestone of 100 goals in 2005, when she had rejoined the team after sitting out the 2004 Olympics cycle. Milbrett earned MVP and Golden Boot honors in the inaugural season of WUSA in 2001.

206: Diana Matheson

First cap: March 2003

The Princeton star has been a starter for Canada since the 2003 Women’s World Cup, when the Maple Leafs made it all the way to semifinals. Matheson has been part of two Olympic medal-winning squads (2012 and 2016), and scored the game-winner in stoppage time in the bronze medal game in 2012. Matheson has been rostered for every season season of NWSL. She is not available for the 2021 SheBelieves Cup due to injury.

 

202: Hope Solo (USA)

First cap: April 5, 2000 vs Iceland
Last cap: August 12, 2016 vs Sweden

Only one keeper has more caps than Hope Solo (Gemma Fay of Scotland retired with 203), and no one has more international shutouts (102). Solo was *the* starting keeper for the USWNT from 2008 through 2016, leading to five straight appearances in World Cup/Olympic finals. She helped the team with gold in both 2008 and 2012, plus the World Cup in 2015. She won the Golden Glove award in 2011 and 2015, and led her NWSL club Seattle Reign FC (now Reign FC) to back-to-back NWS Shields.

 

 

201: Kate Markgraf (USA)

First cap: April 26, 1998
Last cap: July 17, 2010

The current general manager of the USWNT was the youngest starter of the USWNT that won the 1999 Women’s World Cup, famously dying her hair red before the final at the Rose Bowl. She was a stalwart on the backline for the bulk of her career, stepping away twice to have kids. She played all three seasons of WUSA with the Boston Breakers, and one season with the Chicago Red Stars (2010) in WPS. She netted one international goal in her 201 games, a PK versus Ireland that her teammates forced her to take.