When someone brings up the subject of a footballer scoring a hat-trick, Cristiano Ronaldo is usually the first name that comes to mind.
During his incredible professional career, the 37-year-old superstar has regularly made three waves through the back of the net in one game.
Even in a poor Manchester United team this season, Ronaldo still managed to score two hat-tricks – against Tottenham Hotspur and Norwich City respectively.
The Portugal international’s hat-trick tally for club and country now stands at 60, which is frankly ridiculous.
But who are the other major buyers of treble in the 21st century?
Well, the folks at IFFHS have decided to officially name the 22 players with the most hat tricks since the turn of the millennium.
Their detailed list doesn’t just include those who have played in Europe’s top five leagues either, oh no, those who have featured in ‘top games’ around the world have made the cut.
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Soccer Football – La Liga Santander – FC Barcelona v Real Madrid – Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain – May 6, 2018 Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo with Barcelona’s Lionel Messi before the match REUTERS/Albert Gea
We’ll take a look…
The 22 players with the most hat-tricks in the 21st century
22. Maksim Gruznov (Estonia) | 15 hat tricks
21. Jose Alfredo Castillo (Bolivia) | 15 hat tricks
20. Edinson Cavani (Uruguay) | 15 hat tricks
19. Eran Zahavi (Israel) | 15 hat tricks
18. Baghdad Bounedjah (Algeria) | 16 hat tricks
17. Washington (Brazil) | 18 hat tricks
16. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Holland) | 18 hat tricks
15. Mario Gomez (Germany) | 18 hat tricks
14. Sergio Aguero (Argentina) | 18 hat tricks
13. Harry Kane (England) | 18 hat tricks
12. Abderrazak Hamdallah (Morocco) | 20 hat tricks
Newcastle United 2-0 Arsenal Match Reaction (Terrace Football)
11. Sebastian Tagliabúe (UAE) | 20 hat tricks
10. Firas Al-Khatib (Syria) | 20 hat tricks
9. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden) | 20 hat tricks
8. Neymar (Brazil) | 21 hat tricks
7. Aleksandar Đurić (Singapore) | 22 hat tricks
6. Ali Mabkhout (UAE) | 25 hat tricks
5. Luis Suarez (Uruguay) | 29 hat tricks
4. Robert Lewandowski (Poland) | 30 hat tricks
3.Ali Ashfaq (Maldives) | 35 hat tricks
2. Lionel Messi (Argentina) | 55 hat tricks
- Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) | 60 hat tricks
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Hat-tricks from Ronaldo and Messi simply shouldn’t be possible in the modern era.
However, the one thing neither of them have achieved is the feat of scoring six goals (a double hat-trick) in a game.
Ashfaq, Mabkhout, Bounedjah and Gruznov, third, all passed.
Ashfaq has also scored five goals in a game on six occasions, which tells you everything you need to know about the prolificacy of ‘the Man of Steel’.
