Goals are the currency of football and while some players might struggle to find the back of the net on a regular basis, others possess the knack for doing so with consummate ease.
It is difficult enough to score one goal in a match, much less two, three, or even more and players with the most hat-tricks in history are placed on a pedestal far above their peers.
Throughout the annals of the game, we have witnessed supreme goalscorers who cemented their legacies but some select few went further by scoring hat-tricks on a frequent basis.
It goes without saying that some of these men are regarded by many to be among the best footballers of all-time and here, we shall be celebrating the players who scored three or more goals in a game with more regularity than others.
Which players have the most hat-tricks in history?
A rundown of the eight players with the most hat-tricks in history in reverse order.
- Harry Kane (Tottenham/England) 12 hat-tricks
Harry Kane joined the list with his treble in the 5-2 trashing of Maccabi Haifa in the Europa League playoff.
Unlike the other names on this list, Kane had a slow start to his career and had to undergo several loan spells away from White Hart Lane before he was given his opportunity in the Tottenham first team by Tim Sherwood midway through the 2014/15 season.
It was an opportunity that the England international grabbed with both feet and since then, he has gone on to cement his reputation as one of the best strikers in the world.
Harry Kane won consecutive Premier League Golden Boots in 2016 and 2017, as well as the World Cup 2018 Golden Boot, while he also achieved the unique feat of outscoring both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in the 2017 calendar year.
- Radamel Falcao (Galatasaray/Colombia) 12 hat-tricks
Radamel Falcao made a name for himself as the ‘King of the Europa League’ with FC Porto and he took his goalscoring exploits to greater heights under the management of Diego Simeone at Atletico Madrid.
A mega-money move to Monaco was completed in 2013 and despite his stay in the principality being injury-plagued, the Colombia international still managed to score the respectable total of 83 goals from 139 matches in all competitions and was the focal point and captain of the side that won a shock Ligue 1 title in 2017.
Although his Premier League sojourn with Chelsea and Manchester United were largely forgettable, it takes nothing away from Falcao’s abilities and the 34-year-old currently finds himself joint 7th on the list of players with the most hat-tricks in history.
He scored three goals on 10 occasions, four goals once and five goals once.
- Edinson Cavani (Free agent/Uruguay) 15 hat-tricks
Edinson Cavani came to prominence with Palermo in the Serie A and went on to earn more acclaim with his exploits at Napoli.
He won the Capocannoniere (Serie A Golden Boot) in 2013 with 29 goals and helped the San Paolo side to the Coppa Italia title in 2012.
A transfer to Pars Saint-Germain was completed in 2013 and despite initially playing in the shadows of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Cavani soon became the star of the show and played a key role in helping the club to consolidate their dominance in France.
The Uruguay international departed the French capital as the highest goalscorer in PSG’s history and he is currently a free agent after seeing out his contract with the Parisians.
Edinson Cavani has scored 15 hat-tricks in his career, with the most recent coming in the 9-0 trashing of Guingamp in January 2019.
He scored three goals on 13 occasions and four goals in one match twice.
- Sergio Aguero (Manchester City/Argentina) 17 hat-tricks
Sergio Aguero wrote his name into Manchester City folklore when he scored the stoppage time winner against QPR in 2012 with the last kick of the season to give the club their first league title in over five decades.
Even without doing anything else, that goal alone was enough to grant Aguero immortality in the club’s annals.
However, the Argentina international has gone on to surpass everybody else who came before him and Aguero is currently City’s all-time record goalscorer and arguably the most important player in Manchester City’s history.
The 32-year-old has become injury-prone in recent years but remains an elite striker of immense proportions and he recently overtook Alan Shearer’s record for most hat-tricks in the history of the Premier League with 12.
In total, Aguero has scored 17 career hat-tricks, with the most recent coming in the 6-1 victory against Aston Villa in January 2020.
Aguero scored three goals 14 times, four goals twice and five goals on one occasion.
- Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich/Poland) 22 hat-tricks
Robert Lewandowski has been the standout striker of the last five years and his goals have played a key role in helping to establish Bayern Munich as the most dominant team on the continent.
Last season saw the Poland international hit new heights in front of goal and he ended the campaign with 55 goals from just 47 matches in all competitions as Bayern Munich swept all before them to win a second treble.
The decision to cancel the 2020 Ballon d’Or due to the coronavirus was cruel, as the former Dortmund man was undoubtedly the favorite for the award, although he was duly named as the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year for the first time.
Lewandowski is the player with the 4th most hat-tricks in history with 22, and he scored three goals 18 times, four goals three times and a memorable five-goal haul against Wolfsburg which came in just nine minutes.
- Luis Suarez (Atletico Madrid/Uruguay) 29 hat-tricks
Luis Suarez is arguably the best striker of his generation and he has proved his mettle across his stints with Ajax, Liverpool, Barcelona and the Uruguay national team.
It was in England that Suarez truly became world-class and he was almost a one-man army as Liverpool ultimately fell short in their quest for the 2014 Premier League title.
His Barcelona career brought immense fame, fortune and personal glory, while he also had a record-breaking debut following his transfer to Atletico Madrid.
Luis Suarez has the third most hat-tricks in history with 29. He scored three goals on 20 occasions, four goals eight times, and six goals once in an Eredivisie fixture for Ajax.
His favorite opponents were Norwich, with the 33-year-old having scored three hat-tricks against the Canaries in just six appearances.
- Lionel Messi (Barcelona/Argentina) 53 hat-tricks
Lionel Messi needs no introduction anywhere on the planet and the Rosario native is arguably the greatest player to have ever graced the game of football.
The 33-year-old has set several records throughout his career and he is unarguably the single most important player in the illustrious history of Barcelona.
The six-time Balon d’Or winner is not only a sublime creator but also an astute goalscorer and he currently sits second on the list of players with the most hat-tricks in history.
In total, Messi has scored 53 career hat-tricks at both club and international level and proof of his greatness lies in the distance between him and the player in third.
He scored three goals 48 times, four goals eight times and five goals on two different occasions.
- Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus/Portugal) 54 hat-tricks
There was always going to be only two options to top this list and with Messi in second, there would have been no prizes for correctly guessing the identity of the man in first.
Ronaldo and Messi have had a long-running battle for setting records in the last 15 years and both icons are separated by just one in the list of players with most hat-tricks in history.
Incredibly, Ronaldo departed Manchester United in 2009 with just one career hat-trick but in just 11 years since then, he has scored a further 53 and cemented his legacy as one of the greatest players of all-time.
He scored three goals 44 times, four goals eight times and five goals twice.
