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There are not many better things in football for an individual than going home with the match ball after scoring a hattrick. We are blessed to be living in the same era as some of the finest goalscorers in the history of the game.
In keeping with the cliche 'attack is the best defence', a team with a prolific striker is a nightmare for any opposition. Over the past couple of decades we have seen number 9s raising the bar and hitting rates of productivity that we're still getting used to.
To score a hattrick is one thing but to keep repeating that feat is a different thing altogether. That is what separates the best from the rest. On that note, let's take a look at five players with most hattricks in football history.
#5 Robert Lewandowski (25 hat tricks)
The common consensus is that Robert Lewandowski would have walked home with the Ballon d'Or this time around like it was not even up for discussion had the awards not been canceled owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Lewandowski is the best striker in Europe right now and had netted a total of 49 goals from 41 games across the Bundesliga and UEFA Champions League last season. He was the leading light for Bayern Munich as they won the continental treble.
Robert Lewandowski is arguably one of the best strikers of all time. He has been prolific throughout his career and has scored a total of 25 career hat tricks with the last of them coming against Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga in March.
#4 Luis Suarez (29 hat tricks)
Luis Suarez was right in feeling hard done by the way he was frozen out of Barcelona after giving so much to the club during his stay. He even outscored Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo at his peak and was part of perhaps the greatest attacking trio in modern football- Messi, Suarez and Neymar (MSN).
At 33-years-old, he did look like he was starting to fade. However, Suarez joined Atletico Madrid this summer and has been one of their standout performers so far this season. Suarez has scored a whopping 29 career hat tricks so far.
Even better, he has scored a total of four goals or more on nine occasions. The belligerent Uruguayan will go down in history as one of the best strikers of the modern era.
#3 Lionel Messi (54 hat tricks)
Now we move on to a whole different league. A realm where the outrageous is the norm. Lionel Messi is one of the greatest footballers of all time. He has clocked ridiculously high numbers throughout his career and though he has hit a lean patch (only by his standards of course), he is sure to have plenty more years of football left in him.
Messi has scored 53 career hat tricks so far. He has scored four goals on five occasions and has scored five goals in a game once as well. The diminutive Argentine is a nightmare for defenders with his unreal close control and dribbling ability.
He also has the best left foot in the game and once he gets into a scoring position, he hardly ever misses as evidenced by the ridiculous numbers he has stacked up over the course of his career.
#2 Cristiano Ronaldo (57 hat tricks)
Cristiano Ronaldo, at the age of 35 is still one of the best footballers on the planet. An elite athlete, Ronaldo might have lost a bit of pace but he makes up for it with his movement and intelligence.
Cristiano Ronaldo is in contention with Lionel Messi for the tag of 'greatest of all time'. It's hard to separate the two on most fronts but the Portuguese has the slightest edge over his rival when it comes to hat tricks.
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 57 career hat tricks. He has scored four goals in eight games and five goals on two occasions. Cristiano Ronaldo has kept his superhuman act going strong for a decade a half now and the way he is going, he is not about to stop any time now.
#1 Pele (92 hat tricks)
Though his records and numbers are a bit contentious owing to the obscurity of the sources, Pele is one of the greatest artists to have graced a football pitch. Many of his 92 hat tricks have come in friendlies but if those numbers are good enough for the Guinness World Records, who are we to judge, eh?
Pele has numerous extraordinary records to his name including being the youngest player to ever score a hat trick in a World Cup. He achieved that feat at the age of 17 in 1958. It is a record that has remained in tact even 62 years later.
