Hat-tricks in World Cup History: 54 Trebles and Timeless Records

The "Opta" statistics network reviewed a set of facts and statistics related to hat-tricks in the history of the Men's World Cup, along with a comprehensive list of all players who have scored hat-tricks in the tournament finals.

The same source confirmed that the number of hat-tricks in the history of the Men's World Cup has reached 54, distributed across various editions of the tournament since its inception, with many records associated with this scoring achievement.

Russian Oleg Salenko set a remarkable record in World Cup history by becoming the only player to score five goals in a single match. This feat occurred during Russia's 6-1 victory over Cameroon in the 1994 World Cup. According to Opta, his five goals came in a match that did not impact qualification, as Russia had already been eliminated from the tournament.

Austrian Erich Probst recorded one of the fastest hat-tricks in World Cup history, scoring his trio within the first 24 minutes against Czechoslovakia in the 1954 edition. Meanwhile, Hungarian László Kiss holds the record for the fastest hat-trick in terms of time, scoring three goals in 7 minutes and 42 seconds against El Salvador in the 1982 World Cup.

As for the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo, he became the oldest player to score a hat-trick in the World Cup after scoring three goals against Spain in the 2018 World Cup at the age of 33 years and 130 days, in a match that ended in a 3-3 draw.

The same source clarified that only two players have scored a hat-trick in a World Cup final: the Englishman Geoff Hurst in the 1966 final against West Germany, and the Frenchman Kylian Mbappe in the 2022 final against Argentina, where the match ended in a 3-3 draw before Argentina won on penalties.

The report also noted that only three players have scored a hat-trick and lost the match: Ernest Wilimowski with Poland against Brazil in 1938, Josef Hügi with Switzerland against Austria in 1954, and Igor Belanov with the Soviet Union against Belgium in 1986 after extra time.

According to Opta statistics, some World Cup editions have seen a significant number of hat-tricks, most notably the 1958 edition, which recorded 8 hat-tricks, while the 2006 edition in Germany did not witness any hat-tricks at all.

The report also clarified that 26 hat-tricks were recorded in the first 8 editions of the tournament, compared to 28 hat-tricks in the subsequent editions despite the increase in the number of matches.

He also pointed out that Sunday has recorded the most hat-tricks in World Cup history, with a total of 23 hat-tricks, followed by Saturday with 11 hat-tricks. Meanwhile, Monday has the fewest, with only one hat-trick scored by Pauleta for Portugal against Poland in the 2002 World Cup.

The report included a comprehensive list of all hat-tricks in the history of the World Cup from the 1930 edition to 2022, emphasizing that this achievement remains one of the standout individual moments in the history of the global tournament.