The latest of those is France’s Kylian Mbappe, who struck an incredible treble during the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar, a match which Argentina eventually won via a penalty shootout. He became just the second man to achieve that feat in the title decider, alongside England’s Geoff Hurst back in 1966. 

With such famous names as Pele, Ronaldo and Just Fontaine on the list, scoring three goals in a single game at the World Cup is amongst the highest feats a player can achieve during their career. 

MORE: World Cup Golden Boot winners - the complete list from 1930-2018

List of all World Cup hat tricks

While 50 players have scored a hat trick at the World Cup, in total 54 hat tricks have been scored. 

The edition that has seen more hat tricks than any other to this point was the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland, when eight were struck. That included two in the same match, Austria 7-5 Switzerland, from opposing players Theodor Wagner and Josef Hugi.

Through World Cup history, only one edition of the tournament has failed to see a hat trick netted, the 2006 World Cup which was held in Germany. 

The first-ever hat trick at a World Cup was scored by an American, Bert Patenaude at the Uruguay 1930 tournament.

List of all hat tricks scored at the World Cup 

Most hat tricks in World Cup

Despite there being 22 editions of the World Cup since its debut in 1930, only four players have netted more than one World Cup hat trick. They are:

Sandor Kocsis  — Hungary (2) 

The first of the players to net two separate World Cup hat tricks was Sandor Kocsis of Hungary. During the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland, the forward twice had three-goal performances in the group stage, one in a 9-0 win over South Korea and one in an 8-3 victory against West Germany.

Just Fontaine  — France (2)

France’s famous star Just Fontaine was the second player to score two World Cup hat tricks and again, he managed to net both during the same tournament. In the 1958 edition held in Sweden, Fontaine secured his first in a 7-3 victory over Paraguay in the group stage before he then struck four goals in the third-place match vs. West Germany, on his way to a still tournament-record 13-goal haul. 

Gerd Muller  — West Germany (2)

Just 12 years after Fontaine’s goalscoring form in Sweden, West Germany’s Gerd Muller became the third player to score multiple World Cup hat tricks. Both of his three-goal hauls came during the 1970 competition held in Mexico and they came in consecutive group-stage outings. The first was scored in a 5-2 win over Bulgaria and the second in a 3-1 victory against Peru. 

Gabriel Batistuta  — Argentina (2)

The final player on the list is Argentina’s Gabriel Batistuta. Known throughout his playing career as ‘Batigol’ in reference to his goalscoring prowess, the former Fiorentina striker netted his first hat trick against Greece during the 1994 World Cup group stages in the USA. Unlike the other three players on this list though, he remains the only player to net hat tricks in different World Cup editions, as his second came four years later in a 5-0 demolition of Jamaica in Paris at France 1998. 

Which nations have scored and conceded the most hat tricks? 

In terms of team-specific hat tricks, throughout the history of the World Cup no nation has produced more than Germany, who have scored seven.

Ironically, Germany are also jointly the team to have conceded the most overall hat tricks in World Cup tournaments with four, alongside South Korea. 

Who had the last World Cup hat trick?

Kylian Mbappe was the last player to score a hat trick at the World Cup. 

His three strikes came on December 18, 2022 during a staggering final between France and Argentina in which the South American side won on penalties.

He became just the second male player to net a hat trick in a World Cup final after England’s Geoff Hurst back in 1966.

World Cup Golden Boot winners with hat tricks

The following players have all scored a hat trick and won the Golden Boot or Golden Shoe at the same World Cup tournament.