Top 10 World Cup Hat Tricks Ever: The Greatest Individual Performances in Football History

World Cup hat tricks are the rarest individual achievement in football. Over 800 matches across 23 tournaments, and only a handful of players have ever scored three goals in a single World Cup match. 

These are not just statistics. They are moments that defined careers, decided finals, and changed the course of football history. Here are the ten greatest World Cup hat tricks ever scored.

Quick Reference Table:

These World Cup hat tricks span six decades of football history, and every single one changed the course of a match or tournament. 

Rank	Player	Country	Match	Year	Why Impact is High
1	Geoff Hurst	England	vs West Germany	1966	Only hat trick in a World Cup final; won the trophy
2	Kylian Mbappe	France	vs Argentina	2022	Final hat trick, scored three and still lost
3	Eusebio	Portugal	vs North Korea	1966	3-0 down at halftime, scored four to win quarterfinal
4	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	vs Spain	2018	88th minute free kick nobody saw coming
5	Paolo Rossi	Italy	vs Brazil	1982	Knocked out tournament favourites in nine minutes
6	Gerd Muller	West Germany	vs Peru and Bulgaria	1970	Two hat-tricks in three days, 10 goals in one tournament
7	Pele	Brazil	vs France	1958	Youngest ever at 17 in a World Cup semifinal
8	Just Fontaine	France	vs Paraguay and West Germany	1958	Two hat tricks in one tournament, 13 goals total
9	Gabriel Batistuta	Argentina	vs Greece and Jamaica	1994 and 1998	Only player with hat tricks at two different World Cups
10	Goncalo Ramos	Portugal	vs Switzerland	2022	Debut knockout hat trick on first-ever World Cup start

1. Geoff Hurst, England vs West Germany, 1966 Final

The only hat trick in a World Cup final. The goal that ended it is still the most famous in football history.

England and West Germany were level at 2-2 heading into extra time at Wembley. Hurst scored his second in the 98th minute with a shot that hit the crossbar and bounced down, with the goal controversially awarded after much debate. 

In the very last second of the match, he drove forward and hammered the ball into the top corner. Hurst became the only player in history to score a hat trick in a World Cup final. England lifted the trophy. This is the benchmark against which every World Cup hat trick is measured.

2. Kylian Mbappe, France vs Argentina, 2022 Final

A hat trick in the World Cup final. France still lost. That is how good Argentina were that night.

France were 3-1 down with ten minutes left when Mbappe pulled one back from the penalty spot in the 80th minute. Then, immediately in the 81st minute, he struck a stunning volley to level at 3-3 and send the final into extra time. 

Then, in the 118th minute, he converted a penalty to give France the lead at 3-3 in extra time. Argentina equalised through Messi. The match went to penalties, and Argentina won. 

Mbappe had scored a hat trick in a World Cup final and still ended up on the losing side—the most extraordinary individual performance in a World Cup final since Geoff Hurst in 1966.

Read More About: Top 10 Highest Goal Scorers in World Cup History

3. Eusebio, Portugal vs North Korea, 1966 Quarterfinal

3-0 down at halftime in a World Cup quarterfinal. Then the Black Panther took over.

North Korea had already knocked Italy out of the tournament and raced to a 3-0 lead against Portugal inside 25 minutes. Portugal were heading home. 

Then Eusebio scored four goals. Four. He pulled one back, then another, then a third to level before scoring the winner from the penalty spot. Portugal won 5-3. Eusebio wept at the final whistle, and the entire world understood why. He did not just score a hat trick. 

He single-handedly saved Portugal’s entire World Cup campaign in one extraordinary half of football.

4. Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal vs Spain, 2018 Group Stage

Nobody saw this coming. Nobody.

Spain were reigning European champions and one of the favourites for the tournament. Portugal were expected to struggle. 

Ronaldo scored in the 4th minute, then had a penalty saved before converting another in the 44th minute to make it 2-2. Spain went 3-2 up. Then, in the 88th minute, deep into a match Portugal looked like losing, 

Ronaldo curled a free kick over the wall and into the top corner to complete the hat trick and earn Portugal a draw. 

His 51st hat trick for club and country. At 33 years old against the reigning European champions. Nobody in football does the dramatic quite like Ronaldo.

5. Paolo Rossi, Italy vs Brazil, 1982 Second Group Stage

Brazil were the best team in the tournament. Rossi ended their World Cup in nine minutes.

Italy needed a win to progress and faced a Brazil side who only needed a draw. Brazil had Zico, Socrates, Falcao and Junior. They were breathtaking to watch. Rossi scored in the 5th minute. 

Brazil equalised. Rossi scored again in the 25th minute. Brazil equalised again. Then Rossi completed his hat-trick in the 74th minute to send Brazil home and put Italy on the road to the title they eventually won. 

Rossi had served a two-year ban for match fixing before this tournament. Nobody had given him any chance of performing at this level. He went on to win the Golden Boot and the Ballon d’Or. One of the great comeback stories in football history, decided by one man in one match.

6. Gerd Muller, West Germany vs Peru and Bulgaria, 1970

Two hat-tricks. Three days apart. In the same tournament. Nobody has done it since.

Muller scored three against Peru in the group stage, then came back three days later and scored three more against Bulgaria. 

Ten goals in that tournament alone. His goals-per-game ratio of 1.08 across his entire World Cup career remains the highest in history among players who appeared in more than one tournament. 

Der Bomber did not score hat tricks for the occasion. He scored them because it was Tuesday and that is what he did. The most prolific pure scorer the World Cup has ever produced.

Muller’s back-to-back World Cup hat tricks remain the most prolific individual scoring run in tournament history.

7. Pele, Brazil vs France, 1958 Semifinal

Seventeen years old. In a World Cup semifinal. Against one of Europe’s best sides.

Pele scored three goals against France in the 1958 semifinal to become the youngest hat-trick scorer in World Cup history at 17 years and 244 days old. 

A record that still stands over 60 years later. He had already announced himself to the world in the group stage, but this was the performance that confirmed what everyone was starting to suspect. 

The boy from Bauru was not just a prodigy. He was the greatest footballer the world had ever seen. Brazil went on to win the title. Pele scored in the final. He was 17 years old.

8. Just Fontaine, France vs Paraguay and West Germany, 1958

One World Cup. Two hat-tricks. Thirteen goals. A record that has stood for 68 years.

Fontaine scored three against Paraguay in the group stage and four against West Germany in the third-place play-off.
13 goals in 6 matches at a single World Cup remains the record, and it is not close. Nobody has scored more than eight in a single tournament since. 

Fontaine never played another World Cup. He appeared once, produced the greatest individual scoring campaign in tournament history, and left football with a record that may genuinely never be broken. 

One of the most extraordinary one-tournament performances any sport has ever produced.

9. Gabriel Batistuta, Argentina vs Greece 1994 and Jamaica 1998

The only player in history to score hat tricks at two different World Cups.

Batistuta scored three against Greece on June 21, 1994, and three against Jamaica on June 21, 1998. The same date. Both opponents were World Cup debutants. Both hat tricks were completed with a penalty. 

Three separate coincidences across two tournaments four years apart. The football gods were clearly paying attention. Batistuta is the only player in the history of the competition to achieve this unique double, and the chances of anyone matching it seem almost impossibly small.

10. Goncalo Ramos, Portugal vs Switzerland, 2022 Round of 16

His first-ever World Cup start. A hat trick in a knockout match. Portugal 6-1 Switzerland.

Ramos was handed his first World Cup start in place of Cristiano Ronaldo for Portugal’s Round of 16 match against Switzerland. Nobody outside the Portuguese camp expected what happened next. 

He scored in the 17th minute, then again in the 33rd, then completed his hat trick in the 55th minute to put Portugal 3-0 up. 

Portugal eventually won 6-1. Ramos finished with three goals and an assist on his first-ever World Cup start in a knockout match. One of the most stunning debut performances in World Cup knockout history and one the football world will not forget quickly.

Why World Cup Hat Tricks Are So Rare

There have been 57 hat tricks across 23 World Cup tournaments and over 800 matches. That is less than one per tournament on average. 

The pressure, the defensive quality, and the stakes involved make scoring three goals in a single match almost impossibly difficult. 

The ten players on this list did not just score hat tricks. They did it when it mattered most, against the best opponents, on the biggest stage football has to offer. That is what separates them from every other player in World Cup history.

Read More About: Top 10 Oldest Players in World Cup History

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