Cristiano Ronaldo sets 3 hat-trick records against Cagliari

The football world was once again magnetised by the footballing exploits of Cristiano Ronaldo as he began 2020 by doing what he does best - scoring. Additionally, the Portuguese provided an assist in an emphatic 4-0 victory over Cagliari in Serie A.

Although according to Ronaldo, the Juventus victory was most important thing to him, he will undoubtedly be pleased with his performance. Scoring a hat-trick is in itself an amazing achievement, however, as is often the case with Ronaldo his hat-tricks are usually a bit more special.

In scoring yet another hat-trick in his already stupendous career, Cristiano Ronaldo set several footballing records. Firstly, and perhaps most impressively, the Portuguese icon became the first player ever to score a hat-trick in the English Premier League, La Liga, the World Cup, and Serie A. He now has scored hat-tricks in 10 official competitions.

Cristiano Ronaldo has scored a hat-trick in 10 official competitions:🎩 Premier League🎩 Serie A🎩 La Liga 🎩 World Cup qualifiers 🎩 Euro qualifiers 🎩 Copa del Rey 🎩 Club World Cup 🎩 World Cup 🎩 UEFA Nations League 🎩 Champions LeagueGOAT. 👑 pic.twitter.com/V5bn6FMo68

— Football Tweet (@Football__Tweet) January 7, 2020

Although he famously scored a hat-trick in 2019 for Juventus, it was in the Champions League and therefore didn't qualify as a record. Interestingly, Alexis Sanchez is the only other player to have scored a hat-trick in the English, Spanish, and Italian top-flight meaning they share this part of the record. Nevertheless, only Ronaldo has managed to equal this and score a hat-trick at the World Cup as well.

Additionally, Cristiano Ronaldo also became the first Portuguese player ever to score a hat-trick in the Serie A. Whilst this record is more incidental rather than a huge achievement, it does shed light on how much Ronaldo has done for Portuguese football.

While Portugal has had a handful of world-class talents in their past, none have been remotely as good as him and he has achieved records that few, if any, from his nation has previously achieved.

Thirdly, Ronaldo also extended his number of career hat-tricks to 56 overall. Whilst this isn't a record, it is still the highest total of any active player, with his rival, Lionel Messi, a few hat-tricks behind. 56 is a staggering amount and when one considers that on some of these occasions Ronaldo ended up scoring 4, or even 5, goals it is a record which shows just what a goalscoring genius the Portuguese truly is.