If you are a soccer fan, there are certain terms that you will be very acquainted with after watching the games every week but there are certain terms that happen in rarity and thus many fans don’t know about them.
One such term is ‘hat-trick’ which refers to when a player scores three goals in a single game. This accolade is really difficult to achieve as it takes a lot for a player to get on the score sheet once but only brilliant players of the game are able to get on the score sheet thrice.
Such is the rarity of the achievement that the soccer authorities felt the need to reward a player who scores a hat-trick and is respected for their achievement in the game, they are awarded the ball used in that game as a memento.
Why do they call it Hat Trick?
There are various theories around why the achievement of scoring three goals in a game was called a hat-trick, one of them originating from a different sport, ‘cricket’ where a bowler who took three wickets in three consecutive balls was awarded money in a hat and thus the name, hat-trick.
Another theory revolves around how a magician produces tricks out of a hat at their magic shows and likewise, a player produces magic on the field to score three goals in a single game.
There is another term, ‘perfect hat-trick’ which is referred to a more complex version of a hat-trick where a player scores the goals, one with his right foot, one with his left, and one with his head completing the order.
Who has the most hat tricks in soccer?
You have to be a very special player to feature on this list of the most number of hat-tricks and the player who holds the record is regarded as the greatest player the world has ever seen holding numerous other records, it is none other than the Brazilian maestro, Pele.
Pele holds the record for being the youngest to score a hat-trick in the biggest event in soccer, the FIFA World Cup when he achieved the feat in a game against France in the 1958 World Cup aged just 17.
He holds the record for most hat-tricks in soccer history according to the Guinness Book of World Records and this isn’t the only record he holds as the Brazilian has another special hat-trick to his name, a hat-trick of World Cups and is the only player to have won it thrice.
What are four goals in soccer called?
Scoring 3 goals in a game is really difficult but there are special players the game of soccer has seen who have managed to go a step ahead and score 4 goals in a game that is referred to as the ‘Super Hat-trick’.
Modern-day greats such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, and Neymar Jr. have achieved this feat while among the previous generation, players like Frank Lampard, Ole Gunnar Solksjaer, and Micheal Owen managed to score 4 goals in a single game.
How many hat tricks do Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have?
A piece that talks about goals and hat-tricks is empty without the mention of two of the greatest players of the game, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, and today we’ll know who has got the better of the other in case of hat-tricks.
It looks like the Portuguese sensation, Ronaldo, has an edge over his Argentine rival but not by much as he has scored a total of 62 hat-tricks throughout his career while Messi has scored 56.
The rivals are tied on the number of hat-tricks scored in the UEFA Champions League as both have scored but Cristiano has got the better of Messi in the International arena as he has scored a record total of 10 hat-tricks for Portugal while Messi has managed 8 for Argentina.
Ronaldo has clearly got the edge over his rival in this category but it remains to be seen whether the two giants of the game will be adding any more hat-tricks to the list as both are at the twilight of their careers.
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