FIFA World Cup hat-tricks

This is a list of all hat-tricks scored during FIFA World Cups; that is, the occasions when a footballer has scored three or more goals in a single football World Cup Finals match (not including FIFA World Cup qualification matches). Scoring a hat-trick in a World Cup is a relatively rare event: only 48 hat-tricks have been scored in over 700 matches in the 18 editions of the World Cup tournament. As FIFA is the governing body of football (soccer), official hat-tricks are only noted when FIFA recognises that at least three goals were scored by one player in the one match.

The first hat-trick was scored by Bert Patenaude of United States, playing against Paraguay in the 1930 FIFA World Cup; the most recent (as of 2006) was by Pauleta of Portugal, playing against Poland in the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

The only World Cup not to have at least one hat-trick scored was the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. The record number of hat-tricks in a single World Cup tournament is eight, which occurred during the 1954 FIFA World Cup in Switzerland.

Notable World Cup hat-tricks

*Bert Patenaude was the first player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup match, on 19 July, 1930 against Paraguay. However, until November 10, 2006 the first hat-trick that FIFA acknowledged had been scored by Guillermo Stábile of Argentina, two days after Patenaude. In 2006 FIFA announced that Bert Patenaude's claim to being the first hat-trick scorer was valid, as teammate Tom Florie's goal in the match against Paraguay was reattributed to Patenaude.

*Four players have scored two hat-tricks in World Cup matches: Sándor Kocsis (both 1954); Just Fontaine (both 1958); Gerd Müller (both 1970); and Gabriel Batistuta (1994 and 1998). Batistuta is thus the only person to score hat-tricks in two World Cups. Kocsis and Müller scored their hat-tricks in consecutive matches.

*Oleg Salenko is the only player in World Cup history to have scored five goals in a single match. He did this during the 1994 FIFA World Cup match between Russia and Cameroon.

*One player has scored a hat-trick on his international debut: Guillermo Stábile (1930).

*One player has scored four goals for the losing side: Ernest Wilimowski (5-6, 1938)

*Two players have scored a hat-trick for the losing side: Josef Hügi (5-7, 1954); and Igor Belanov (3-4, 1986)

*There have been three occasions when two hat-tricks have been scored in the same match. Two occurred during the 1938 FIFA World Cup: when Sweden defeated Cuba, Gustav Wetterström and Tore Keller, both playing for Sweden, scored three goals, with the former completing his in the first half. In the Brazil vs Poland, Leônidas did it for Brazil and Ernest Wilimowski for Poland. One occurred during the 1954 FIFA World Cup: when Austria defeated Switzerland, Theodor Wagner and Josef Hügi scored hat-tricks for Austria and Switzerland respectively.

*One player has scored a hat-trick in a World Cup Final. Geoff Hurst scored three for England against West Germany in the 1966 FIFA World Cup Final. This is also the longest hat-trick to be completed - most time between the first and third goals. His first goal came at 10', while the second goals were in extra time at 98' and 120'.

*The quickest hat-trick to be completed is Erich Probst's three goals during the 1954 FIFA World Cup. He scored his third in the 24th minute, after scoring his first goal in the 4th minute and his second in the 21st.

*The briefest hat-trick to be completed - that is, the shortest time between the first and third goals - is the one by László Kiss in 1982 against El Salvador. He scored at 69', 72', and 76', making the time between his first and third 7 minutes. This is also the only hat-trick scored by a substitute.

*The only players to have scored from three headers in a single match are Tomáš Skuhravý in 1990 and Miroslav Klose in 2002.

*The youngest player to score a hat-trick is Pelé at 17 years and 244 days. The oldest player to score a hat-trick is Tore Keller at 33 years and 159 days.

List of World Cup hat-tricks

See also

* FIFA World Cup
* FIFA World Cup records

Notes

References

*cite web|url=http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/fifafacts/mcwc/ip-301%5f02a%5ffwc%5fgoals%5f22689.pdf|title=FIFA Facts: World Cup Goals|pages=pages 2-3|accessdate=2007-12-06|publisher=FIFA
*cite news|url=http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/releases/newsid=107499.html#american+bert+patenaude+credited+with+first+trick+fifa+world+cup+history|title=American Bert Patenaude credited with first hat trick in FIFA World Cup history|publisher=FIFA|date=2006-11-10|accessdate=2007-12-06
*cite web|url=http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?menu=c10400&no=303540&rel_no=1 |title=World Cup 2006 Missing a Hat-trick|accessdate=2006-10-09|date=2006-07-06|publisher=Ohmynews
*cite news|title=Pauleta and Klose revive a vibrant hat-trick past|date=2002-06-11|publisher=Yahoo
*cite news|title=No hat-tricks for the first time?|date=2006-07-02|publisher=Yahoo
*cite web|url=http://www.rsssf.com/tablest/trivia.html#hattricks|title=World Cup Trivia - Hat-tricks|accessdate=2006-10-09|publisher=RSSSF
*cite web|url=http://www.worldfootballregister.com/hat-trick/male/international/uruguay/international/fifa-world-cup/united-states/open/bert-patenaude/1748|title=Bert Patenaude's 1930 hat-trick profile|accessdate=2007-12-06|publisher=World Football Register