As we approach the 2022 FIFA World Cup, TSZ has taken a look at the list of players who have achieved the brilliant feat of securing a match ball by notching a hat-trick.
Below lists all of the occasions that a player has scored three goals or more in a World Cup game:
Unsurprisingly, there are many recognisable names on the list with England’s Harry Kane and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo the latest players to write their name into the World Cup record books. Kane scored three in England’s 6-1 win over Panama while Ronaldo was his side’s hero as his three goals secured a draw with rivals Spain with both coming at the 2018 World Cup.
Other notable names on the list include the legendary Gary Lineker (England), Eusebio (Portugal) and Pele (Brazil) while Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina) and Gerd Mueller (Germany FR) are the only two players to record multiple hat-tricks in World Cup competition.
However, perhaps the most important hat-trick scored in World Cup history belongs to Geoff Hurst. England’s only World Cup to date came courtesy of a 4-2 win over Germany FR in 1966 with Hurst claiming the headlines for his magnificent treble which will never be forgotten.
Portugal’s Gonçalo Ramos scored the 53rd hat-trick in FIFA World Cup history thanks to his superb treble in his nation’s Round of 16 6-1 hammering of Switzerland in Qatar. The 21-year-old became the youngest to achieve the feat in a knockout match at the FWC since Pele, all the way back in 1958.
In the 2022 final, France’s Kylian Mbappe matched Hurst’s feat by becoming just the second player to score a hat-trick in a FWC final. However, his incredible effort proved to be in vain as his side succumbed to a penalty shootout defeat at the hands of Argentina.