{"id":43715,"date":"2026-03-25T12:44:54","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T12:44:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mansionbet.com\/blog\/?p=43715"},"modified":"2026-03-25T12:44:58","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T12:44:58","slug":"world-cup-hat-tricks-every-player-to-score-three-in-a-single-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mansionbet.com\/blog\/sports\/football\/world-cup-hat-tricks-every-player-to-score-three-in-a-single-game\/","title":{"rendered":"World Cup Hat-Tricks: Every Player to Score Three in a Single Game"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Image by WikiMedia Commons<\/strong> CC BY-SA 3.0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any international footballer who shines at the World Cup is guaranteed to achieve iconic status and global acclaim, however, those who manage to plunder hattricks on the biggest stage are especially revered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it\u2019s a precociously talented teen by the name of Pel\u00e9 single-handedly dismantling France or Oleg Salenko burying five chances in a Group Stage dead-rubber, every World Cup hattrick has its own unique back story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of our MansionBet.com World Cup<\/a> series, we\u2019re recounting the stories of all 54 players who have scored a hattrick in the tournament over the past century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

World Cup Hat-Tricks: A Brief History<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Where else to start but with the first treble? The first hattrick at a World Cup arrived in somewhat surprising circumstances via young American forward, Bert Patenaude, who netted three times against Paraguay in the 1930 edition of the competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, the World Cups of yesteryear were generally more fertile hunting grounds for hattricks due to the rawness of the game, the lack of defensive organisation and existence of more maverick attacking antagonists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fast-forward to today and hattricks are rarer beasts, indeed, the relatively recent 2006 World Cup in Germany was the first edition to go without a hattrick hero in history and the last tournament, 2022 Qatar, produced only two, one of which was in the Final itself. More on that later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

World Cup Hattrick Records That Still Stand:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Youngest:<\/strong> At 17 years and 244 days old, Brazilian legend Pel\u00e9 remains the youngest player to score a hattrick at a World Cup (vs France, 1958 semi-final).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oldest:<\/strong> The evergreen prolific veteran, Cristiano Ronaldo, holds this accolade. He scored three times in one sitting for Portugal at the 2018 World Cup against rivals Spain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fastest from the start:<\/strong> This gong belongs to Austria\u2019s Erich Probst. He netted three times inside the first 24 minutes against Czechoslovakia at World Cup 1954.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quickest overall:<\/strong> L\u00e1szl\u00f3 Kiss (Hungary) bagged his hattrick in just 7 minutes 42 seconds as a substitute against El Salvador in 1982.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most goals in one match:<\/strong> This honour, of course, belongs to Oleg Salenko, who scored a sensational five goals for Russia against Cameroon at USA 94.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Double up:<\/strong>  Four players have scored multiple World Cup hat-tricks. S\u00e1ndor Kocsis (both in 1954), Just Fontaine (both in 1958) and \u201cDer Bomber\u201d Gerd M\u00fcller (both in 1970). Uniquely, explosive Argentine Gabriel Batistuta is the only player ever to score hattricks across two separate tournaments (1994 and 1998). Coincidentally, both were scored against debut nations (Greece and Jamaica) on the same date (21 June) four years apart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Complete List of Every World Cup Hat-Trick<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Below, we\u2019ve catalogued every single one of the 54 documented World Cup hat-tricks, grouped by tournament for easier reference. As we touched on earlier, the 2006 World Cup has been omitted from the list as no hattricks were scored during that edition:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1930 Uruguay – 3<\/h3>\n\n\n\n