Every player to score a hat trick in a World Cup match

Scoring a goal at the FIFA World Cup is a dream for every footballer, but scoring three goals in a single match is an achievement reserved for the game's elite. In football, a hat trick occurs when a player scores three goals in the same match, excluding penalty shootouts. At the FIFA World Cup, where pressure is at its highest and opportunities are limited, hat tricks are among the tournament’s rarest and most celebrated feats.

Since the inaugural World Cup in 1930, only a select group of players have managed to score three or more goals in a single match. From American pioneer Bert Patenaude, who recorded the first-ever World Cup hat trick, to France superstar Kylian Mbappé, who became just the second player to score a hat trick in a World Cup final, these performances have become part of football history.

With the expanded 48-team FIFA World Cup 2026 offering more matches than ever before, fans will be watching closely to see whether another player can join this exclusive list. Few achievements in football carry as much prestige as scoring a hat-trick at the FIFA World Cup.

As the 2026 FIFA World Cup unfolds across the United States, Canada and Mexico, attention will once again turn to football’s greatest stars and whether another player can join one of the sport’s most exclusive clubs.

The first World Cup hat-trick

The first-ever World Cup hat-trick belongs to American forward Bert Patenaude. The Massachusetts-born striker scored all three goals in the United States' 3-0 victory over Paraguay during the inaugural FIFA World Cup in Uruguay in 1930.

Patenaude's feat stood alone for years and remains one of the most important milestones in World Cup history.

Only two players have scored a World Cup Final hat-trick

Despite nearly a century of World Cup football, only two players have managed a hat-trick in the final itself.

Geoff Hurst (England, 1966)

Hurst became the first player to score three goals in a World Cup final when England defeated West Germany 4-2 at Wembley Stadium.

His extra-time strike remains one of the most debated goals in football history.

Kylian Mbappé (France, 2022)

More than five decades later, Mbappé joined Hurst in the record books. The French superstar scored all three of France’s goals against Argentina in the 2022 World Cup final, becoming only the second player ever to achieve the feat.

Unlike Hurst, however, Mbappé finished on the losing side after Argentina triumphed on penalties.

Every FIFA World Cup hat-trick in history

• Bert Patenaude (United States) – vs Paraguay, 1930
• Guillermo Stábile (Argentina) – vs Mexico, 1930
• Pedro Cea (Uruguay) – vs Yugoslavia, 1930
• Angelo Schiavio (Italy) – vs United States, 1934
• Edmund Conen (Germany) – vs Belgium, 1934
• Oldřich Nejedlý (Czechoslovakia) – vs Germany, 1934
• Leônidas (Brazil) – vs Poland, 1938
• Ernst Wilimowski (Poland) – vs Brazil, 1938
• Harry Andersson (Sweden) – vs Cuba, 1938
• Gustav Wetterström (Sweden) – vs Cuba, 1938
• Óscar Míguez (Uruguay) – vs Bolivia, 1950
• Ademir (Brazil) – vs Sweden, 1950
• Sándor Kocsis (Hungary) – vs South Korea, 1954
• Carlos Borges (Uruguay) – vs Scotland, 1954
• Erich Probst (Austria) – vs Czechoslovakia, 1954
• Sándor Kocsis (Hungary) – vs West Germany, 1954
• Burhan Sargın (Turkey) – vs South Korea, 1954
• Max Morlock (West Germany) – vs Turkey, 1954
• Josef Hügi (Switzerland) – vs Austria, 1954
• Theodor Wagner (Austria) – vs Switzerland, 1954
• Just Fontaine (France) – vs Paraguay, 1958
• Pelé (Brazil) – vs France, 1958
• Just Fontaine (France) – vs West Germany, 1958
• Flórián Albert (Hungary) – vs Bulgaria, 1962
• Eusébio (Portugal) – vs North Korea, 1966
• Geoff Hurst (England) – vs West Germany, 1966 Final
• Gerd Müller (West Germany) – vs Bulgaria, 1970
• Gerd Müller (West Germany) – vs Peru, 1970
• Dušan Bajević (Yugoslavia) – vs Zaire, 1974
• Andrzej Szarmach (Poland) – vs Haiti, 1974
• Rob Rensenbrink (Netherlands) – vs Iran, 1978
• Teófilo Cubillas (Peru) – vs Iran, 1978
• László Kiss (Hungary) – vs El Salvador, 1982
• Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (West Germany) – vs Chile, 1982
• Zbigniew Boniek (Poland) – vs Belgium, 1982
• Paolo Rossi (Italy) – vs Brazil, 1982
• Preben Elkjær (Denmark) – vs Uruguay, 1986
• Gary Lineker (England) – vs Poland, 1986
• Igor Belanov (Soviet Union) – vs Belgium, 1986
• Emilio Butragueño (Spain) – vs Denmark, 1986
• Míchel (Spain) – vs South Korea, 1990
• Tomáš Skuhravý (Czechoslovakia) – vs Costa Rica, 1990
• Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina) – vs Greece, 1994
• Oleg Salenko (Russia) – vs Cameroon, 1994 (five goals)
• Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina) – vs Jamaica, 1998
• Miroslav Klose (Germany) – vs Saudi Arabia, 2002
• Pauleta (Portugal) – vs Poland, 2002
• Gonzalo Higuaín (Argentina) – vs South Korea, 2010
• Thomas Müller (Germany) – vs Portugal, 2014
• Xherdan Shaqiri (Switzerland) – vs Honduras, 2014
• Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) – vs Spain, 2018
• Harry Kane (England) – vs Panama, 2018
• Gonçalo Ramos (Portugal) – vs Switzerland, 2022
• Kylian Mbappé (France) – vs Argentina, 2022 Final

Players with multiple World Cup hat-tricks

Only a handful of footballers have managed more than one World Cup hat-trick.

Gerd Müller (West Germany)

The legendary German striker scored two hat-tricks during the 1970 World Cup, helping cement his reputation as one of football’s greatest finishers.

Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina)

Batistuta remains the only player to score World Cup hat-tricks in two separate tournaments, achieving the feat in 1994 and 1998.

Sándor Kocsis (Hungary)

The prolific Hungarian striker scored two hat-tricks during the 1954 World Cup, finishing the tournament with an incredible 11 goals.

Can the 2026 World Cup produce more hat-tricks?

The expanded 48-team format could increase the chances. The tournament now features 104 matches, significantly more than previous editions, creating more opportunities for elite forwards to face weaker opposition during the group stage.

Players such as Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland, Julián Álvarez, Harry Kane and other leading scorers could all become candidates to add their names to the World Cup hat-trick list.