SP. The 21 players with the most hat-tricks in the 21st century have been listed

Scoring a hat-trick is a very tough task – for some, at least. Some of the beautiful game’s most elite strikers go their whole career without netting three goals in a single game. But, contrary to that, there are some that make scoring hat-tricks look like second nature to them.

Take Cristiano Ronaldo as the prime example – the legendary Portuguese has made scoring hat-tricks look easy throughout his illustrious career. He’s taken the match ball home on numerous occasions since making his professional debut and, now in his late 30s and plying his trade outside of Europe, is still adding to his tally.

He is truly one of the most clinical strikers in football history, but how does his hat-trick record compare to other players in the 21st century? GIVEMESPORT are here to take you through the 21 men who have scored three times in a single match the most frequently since 2000, and it’s a list which includes several modern-day legends.

In the event of a tiebreak, the players have been ranked by how many games they scored the hat-tricks in. The player who managed the total in the fewest games wins.

21 Sergio Aguero (Argentina)

18 hat-tricks

It is unsurprising to see the Argentine forward make it onto this list as he was the talisman at both Atletico Madrid – where he formed a formidable partnership with Diego Forlan – and Manchester City. He is also part of an exclusive list of players to have scored five goals in one game, a feat that he achieved during a Premier League match against Newcastle United.

Sergio Aguero was practically unstoppable at his very best, with the little striker having the capability of finding the net with either foot or with his head. Playing 786 games for club and country, the 35-year-old was forced to retire from football at 33 because of a heart condition. There is every chance he could have scored more hat-tricks had he been cleared to play on.

20 Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Holland)

18 hat-tricks

The Dutch forward was known as a clinical goalscorer during his long and storied career, with 18 hat-tricks to show for his efforts. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar started his career at PSV before going on to play for the likes of Ajax, Real Madrid, Milan and Schalke. He netted 367 goals at club level – with 158 coming for Ajax and 128 for Schalke. He also scored 42 goals in 76 games for his country.

Huntelaar was never in doubt about where the back of the net was during his long career, as shown by his 18 trebles for club and country. This puts him among some elite company and rightly so, as one of the best finishers of his generation.

19 Mario Gomez (Germany)

18 hat-tricks

Mario Gomez was very much a striker in the same mould as Huntelaar, which was shown to such an extent that the pair both scored the same number of hat-tricks throughout their time in the game. The German was at his most deadly when leading the line for Bayern Munich, where he managed to net 113 times in 174 games for the German giants.

He was just as clinical for his national team too, leading the line as they finished third in the 2010 World Cup. The 2014 success came just too late for the striker as he missed out on the squad for the tournament in Brazil. Gomez went on to play his final years at Stuttgart after a spell in Italy with Fiorentina.

18 Kylian Mbappe (France)

19 hat-tricks

One of the most devastating forwards of the modern era is Real Madrid and France superstar Kylian Mbappe. In the grand scheme of things, the 25-year-old is still a relative newcomer and has plenty of years on the clock to climb this list and usurp those on the podium spots – and given the rate he seems to bulge the net at, you cannot put it past him.

At his tender age, the Frenchman notched his 19th career hat-trick in PSG’s 6-2 win against Montpellier in March 2024. You would be naive to bet against the Frenchman rising up this list at a sharp pace now he is at Real Madrid.

17 Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden)

20 hat-tricks

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is right up there as one of the most impressive strikers of his generation, with the massive Swede being impossible to deal with both physically and technically. He only announced his retirement in 2023, after scoring vast amounts of goals for the likes of Inter Milan, AC Milan, Barcelona and Manchester United.

The Swedish forward was a revelation that scored a vast array of goals, from bicycle kicks to left-footed screamers – he was someone who could do it all. Ibrahimovic is one of the top goalscorers of the 21st century, and it’s only right that he makes it into this list.

16 Firas Al-Khatib (Syria)

20 hat-tricks

The now 41-year-old played for a variety of clubs in Kuwait, as well as spending some time playing in Iraq and China. This means the quality of the football can once again be brought into question, but to get 20 hat-tricks is still a strong accomplishment.

Al-Khatib was a stand-out performer in these leagues, as he is the only player from them to make it onto this list. Winning cups and leagues with Al-Arabi, Al-Qadsia, and Kuwait SC during a career which spanned two decades, he also managed to represent Syria at senior level, becoming the country’s record goalscorer (36 goals in 72 games).

15 Greg Draper (New Zealand)

20 hat-tricks

A lesser-known name among some of the world’s best, there is an argument to be made that Greg Draper was playing against lower-quality opposition throughout his career as he played for The New Saints in Wales. Whatever you make of the teams he faced, the striker did find the net 163 times in the league from 252 games, and that is an impressive record by anyone’s standards.

More hat-tricks to his name than Aguero, Gomez, and Huntelaar is a nice stat to be able to tell his kids and proves his clinical nature. Fans of the club will remember him forever and we are sure he would have it no other way.

14 Neymar (Brazil)

21 hat-tricks

It might come as a shock that the Brazilian star makes it so high up on this list purely because he is the first name on this list that is not a striker, having played the majority of his games as a left-winger. He did play as a striker at times during his younger years in Brazil, and this earned him his big move to Barcelona. Neymar is an incredibly impressive player to watch, but he obviously contributes a significant number of goals too.

One of Brazil’s greatest-ever players, he has now joined Al Hilal in the emerging Saudi Pro League and that could present an opportunity for even more hat-tricks going forward, as the standard of football in the division is not yet at the same level as Europe’s top leagues.

13 Sebastian Tagliabue (UAE)

21 hat-tricks

South America and the Middle East are the regions the Argentine-born forward has played in during his career. Al-Wahda in Abu Dhabi was the most clinical stint in his career as Tagliabue found the net 152 times in 157 UAE Pro League games between the years of 2013 and 2020.

Playing for the likes of Al-Ettifaq and Al-Shabab too, the striker represented the United Arab Emirates 19 times, scoring five goals in the process. Having the same number of trebles as Neymar is no mean feat for the striker, and is a commendable achievement despite the level of opposition he was facing.

12 Abderrazak Hamdallah (Morocco)

21 hat-tricks

The 33-year-old has scored over 100 league goals in the past five years during his time with Al Nassr and Al Ittihad in the Saudi Pro League. Time spent in Norway and Qatar also proved to be fruitful along with time playing in his native Morocco, as Abderrazak Hamdallah has netted more hat-tricks than Ibrahimovic while being almost a decade younger.

The company he is keeping on this list is quite remarkable when you think about it. Hamdallah is a player that many fans won’t have seen in action, but it cannot be questioned that he was clinical in front of goal with a record like this.

11 Aleksandar Duric (Singapore)

22 hat-tricks

Duric played for almost three decades, as the now 54-year-old played all the way until 2019, retiring at the age of 49 after a career that saw him play for 18 clubs. 22 hat-tricks shows the ability and goalscoring touch that he possessed during his extensive time in the game.

Spending so long playing is likely to have helped his case as he had more time to get the hat-tricks than his peers. Longevity doesn’t always equate to success in football, but Aleksandar Duric made his years in the game count when it comes to netting hat-tricks, and for that, we salute him.

10 Marc Lloyd Williams (Wales)

24 hat-tricks

The Welsh forward spent his career playing in the lower leagues in England, as well as the top flight in his home country. His career saw him score 345 goals in 576 games, including 24 hat-tricks in that time. Marc Lloyd Williams has now been retired for almost a decade with his most impressive spell being at Bangor City, where he scored 68 times in 55 games.

In the 2001/02 season, Williams was the top goalscorer in Europe with 47 goals while playing for Bangor City, but due to the Welsh Premier League having a lower co-efficient, he was not rewarded for his incredible form with the European Golden Boot.

9 Harry Kane (England)

25 hat-tricks

England’s all-time top goalscorer and Tottenham’s all-time top scorer was always going to get his name in amongst these players. To have more hat-tricks than players of the calibre of Aguero, Gomez and Huntelaar is seriously impressive as Harry Kane is still playing and only 31 years old, while those other names are retired from the game.

Kane left England having scored 18 hat-tricks and has already added seven more to that tally at Bayern Munich. The rate at which the Englishman, one of the greatest strikers in Premier League history, finds the back of the net means he is not quite done yet either.

8 Erling Haaland (Norway)

25 hat-tricks

It is just ridiculous that a 24-year-old has a superior number of hat-tricks in his career so far than some of the most elite strikers we have seen this century. Erling Haaland’s final number of career hat-tricks could potentially be three times as many as he is currently on. The sky really is the limit for the Norwegian marksman, who has already notched eight hat-tricks in the Premier League.

When we re-visit this list in the future, it is expected that Haaland will be right up at the top, along with some of the best players to have played the game. Pep Guardiola has been fortunate to have not lost his striker to significant injury thus far, and that is likely to be the only thing that will prevent him from breaking into the top three.

7 Vyacheslav Zahovaiko (Estonia)

26 hat-tricks

Twenty-six hat-tricks is impressive by any standards, as the Estonian scored 121 goals in his time with FC Flora in his homeland from 1999 to 2019. In 2006, he was the most efficient forward in front of goal, with an average of 1.2 goals per game in the calendar year.

To have a career that spans three decades, Vyacheslav Zahovaiko is deserving of his flowers with his status as a club legend cemented firmly in the history books at FC Flora. His international career, however, was not as fruitful, as he only managed to find the back of the net eight times in 39 appearances for Estonia.

6 Ali Mabkhout (UAE)

27 hat-tricks

A prolific goalscorer, Mabkhout spent his whole career at Al Jazira, up until 2024 when he joined Al-Nasr SC. 210 goals in 281 league games is sensational reading and Al Jazira fans would no doubt have been gutted when he left. Mabkhout is the UAE Pro League side’s top scorer of all time, while he has also bagged nine hat-tricks for his country.

It may be brushed over due to the fact he is once again a lesser-known name in the world of football, but to score almost 30 hat-tricks at any level is impressive. The majority of fans would struggle to do so in their local Sunday League!

5 Luis Suarez (Uruguay)

30 hat-tricks

Luis Suarez is sometimes overlooked for the goalscorer he was, especially while at Barcelona due to the brilliance of Lionel Messi stealing a lot of the spotlight. Bagging 30 hat-tricks over the course of his career shows just how good he was in front of goal. His time with Ajax, Liverpool and Barcelona brought so many goals along with his brilliant technical ability and will to win.

Like others on the list, he is still playing and has the chance to add a few more hat-tricks to his tally in the MLS with Inter Miami. Time is against him, but who would want to bet against the Uruguayan adding to his total?

4 Robert Lewandowski (Poland)

33 hat-tricks

Robert Lewandowski has the joint-most Bundesliga hat-tricks in a single season with five, the same number as Gomez, who also features on this list. Not only that, but the Polish forward has netted a hat-trick for three different clubs in the Champions League, with trebles coming for Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and Barcelona. Having also scored six hat-tricks for his country, it is clear he can do it on the international stage also.

As Kane is now seeing, playing for Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga comes with a lot of opportunities to score and Lewandowski was the best around at converting them. He stands tall as the second-highest goalscorer in Bundesliga history with 312 goals, only behind the legendary Gerd Muller.

3 Ali Ashfaq (Maldives)

35 hat-tricks

This is a name that many fans will be unfamiliar with as Ali Ashfaq played a lot of his games in the Maldives, his home country. Playing for a total of 13 clubs during his career, the forward managed to score more goals than the number of appearances he had made at seven of those teams.

That goalscoring touch has also translated to international football, too, as Ashfaq has managed to score 58 times in 98 games for the Maldives. Still currently playing for Club Eagles in his home country, the forward’s career has spanned over two decades. The 38-year-old could potentially even add more hat-tricks to his record and cement his status as a bronze medalist in this list.

2 Lionel Messi (Argentina)

59 hat-tricks

The man that scored 91 goals in a calendar year has to settle for only second place in this list, but it has to be said that 59 hat-tricks is absolute insanity. Lionel Messi has been a joy to watch over the years and statistics like this have almost become a normal feeling, but for a man that spent most of his career on the right-wing, to score three times in 59 different games is incredible.

The MLS is Messi’s new home after he signed for Inter Miami in the 2023 summer transfer window, and the American game has never seen anything quite like the Argentine sensation. With two hat-tricks in a week during the 2024/25 campaign, the forward isn’t even close to slowing down and we would be amazed if this tally wasn’t higher when the 37-year-old finally decides to hang up his boots.