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Scoring a hat-trick has to be one of the most fulfilling things in a game of football. The scorer of a hat-trick gets to take the match ball home so that he can preserve that memory for eternity.
Based on the type of goals scored that make up a hat-trick, we can say that they are of a few different kinds. One is the perfect hat-trick where a player has scored with his head and both feet. There is also something called a 'pure' hat-trick where none of the three goals are scored from a penalty.
There is also the 'natural hat-trick' where the scorer nets three times consecutively in a game without being interrupted by a teammate or opponent. Today, we are focusing on the second kind - the pure hat-trick.
Without further ado, let's take a look at the five players who have scored the most hat-tricks without penalties.
#5 Sergio Aguero - 10 hat-tricks
Sergio Aguero's football career came to an anticlimactic end towards the fag end of 2021. The former Argentina international was forced to hang up his boots due to a cardiac problem. Aguero definitely looked like he had more to offer at the highest level but due to his medical condition, he had to reassess his priorities.
Aguero will go down in history as one of the finest strikers of his generation. He spent his prime years at Manchester City and has etched his name into Premier League folklore with his heroics.
Aguero has scored a 10 hat-tricks without penalties in his career. That is a good indicator of how technically proficient and well-rounded a forward he was.
#4 Robert Lewandowski - 16 hat-tricks
Robert Lewandowski is the most prolific striker in Europe's top five leagues right now. The Bayern Munich marksman has scored at least 40 goals in six of the last 10 seasons. Lewandowski is arguably the best striker of his generation and he continues to stack up incredible numbers.
He has already scored 31 goals and provided three assists in 26 appearances across all competitions for Bayern Munich already this term. In the 2020-21 season, the 33-year-old broke Gerd Muller's long-standing record of most goals scored in a single Bundesliga season (40) by netting 41 times.
Lewandowski has scored 16 hat-tricks without penalties in his professional career.
#3 Luis Suarez - 21 hat-tricks
Luis Suarez is one of the best strikers of the 21st century. The Uruguayan international has the rare distinction of outscoring both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in their prime and beating them to the European Golden Shoe.
He did it in the 2015-16 season. Suarez scored 40 goals in 35 La Liga appearances that term. He formed one of the deadliest attacking trios of all time at Barcelona alongside Lionel Messi and Neymar Jr.
Suarez is one of the most complete strikers of all time. He has pace, strength, great dribbling ability and he is also very intelligent with his runs. The Uruguayan is also excellent at link-up play which made him a perfect fit at Barcelona during his peak years.
Suarez has scored 21 hat-tricks without penalties in his professional career.
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#2 Cristiano Ronaldo - 27 hat-tricks
Cristiano Ronaldo is the player who has scored the most hat-tricks in the history of the sport. The Portuguese international is one of the greatest footballers of all time and is easily one of the best goalscorers to have ever graced the game.
Ronaldo has scored a whopping 58 hat-tricks in his career. The talismanic forward has also mastered the art of slotting penalties home. He has been the primary penalty taker for both club and country for the majority of his career.
Ronaldo has thus scored plenty of goals from penalties. What's interesting to note is that 31 of his hat-tricks have featured a goal from the spot. Excluding penalties, Ronaldo has only 27 hat-tricks in his professional career.
#1 Lionel Messi - 41 hat-tricks
Lionel Messi recently picked up a record seventh Ballon d'Or. He is arguably the greatest footballer of all time. We have not seen any players with as much natural flair for the game as Messi does.
The Argentina international is phenomenal with the ball at his feet, flitting past defenders with ease and scoring incredible goals from wherever he likes. When Messi was in his best goalscoring form, there was no keeping up with him.
He scored 91 goals in 2012 which is the most number of goals ever scored over the course of a single calendar year. Messi has 55 professional hat-tricks. 41 of those have come without penalties and it goes to show just how deadly a forward he is.
