With just twelve days to the commencement of the World Cup to be hosted by Brazil, one will want to look at those spectacular moments which have characterized previous editions of the competition.
A football match is characterized by the number of goals scored, how amazing the goals are, how brilliant the scorer is, tackles, team work and several other things, but the only one of the above that win you the game is the number of goals a team can score without conceding or not conceding as much as they have scored, all these remain fresh in the memories of the fans long after the match or tournament is over.
One of the uncommon and most relish moments in a football match is when a player scores a HAT-TRICK i.e when a single player scores three goals in the same football game, trust me, it is has been that it is not impossible rather it can only be minimal.
Since the first edition of the FIFA World Cup hosted by Uruguay in 1930, a total of 48 hat-tricks have been scored in over 700 matches played in the 19 editions of the competition played so far. The first of the 48 hat-tricks was scored in the maiden edition at Uruguay by Bert Patenaude of the United States of America and the latest is recorded in the last edition of the World Cup in South Africa in 2010, scored by Gonzalo Higuain.
Let us take time to go back in time and enumerate some facts about hat-tricks scored so far during the FIFA World Cup tournament so we can establish a ground for what to expect from the forthcoming mundial in Brazil.
• First ever hat-trick in a World Cup was scored during the first edition of the competition held in Uruguay in the year 1930
• First player to score a hat-trick in the World Cup – Bert Patenaude of USA against Paraguay on 17 July 1930
• First player to score a hat-trick in World Cup debut – Guillemo Stabile of Argentina. Incidentally this was also the full international debut for Stabile, the Argentine recorded his first World Cup hat-trick in his team's 6-3 victory over Mexico on July 19 1930, two days after the very first one.
• First hat-trick in a World Cup Final – Geoff Hurst. Hurst scored three goals for England in the final of the 1966 edition of the World cup; he scored in the 10th, 98th and 120th minute of the match against West Germany which England won 4-2 After Extra Time (AET).
• Fastest hat-trick in the World Cup – 7minutes. The fastest hat-trick in World Cup history was scored by Lazlo Kiss. The Hungry international scored three goals in just seven minutes (69th, 72nd and 76th minute) of the first round match against El-Salvador in Spain 1982.
• Quickest Hat- trick to be completed – 24 minutes. The quickest of all hat-tricks in the World Cup was completed in the first 24 minutes of regulation time. Austria international Erich Probst was able to complete his hat-trick in the 24th minute after scoring his first and second in the 4th and 21st minute of his country's 5-0 win over Czechoslovakia in 1954.
• Youngest player to score a hat-trick in the World Cup – Pele. Edison Arantes do Nascimento popularly known as Pele became the youngest football player to ever score in the FIFA World Cup when he scored three goals in Brazil's 5-2 semi-final victory over France in Sweden 1958 aged 17 years and 244 days.
• Hat-Tricks from headers: Tomas Skurbrayy of Czechoslovakia and Miroslav klose of Germany have both scored three goals in a single match all with their head in Italy 1990 and South Korea/Japan 2002 respectively.
• Most hat-tricks in a single match – 2. There have been occasions where more than one hat-trick is scored in a single football match in the FIFA World Cup and these so far has been three different times; twice in 1938 World Cup hosted in France and the last time in Switzerland 1954.
Gustav Wetterstrom and Harry Andersson both playing for Sweden scored a hat-trick as Sweden pummeled Cuba 8-0in 1938 while the second in the same year was in the game between Brazil and Poland in which both Leonidas of Brazil and Emest Wilimowski of Poland boyh scored a hat-trick as Brazil ran out eventual winner on 6 goals to 5 after extra time.
The third time there will be two hat-tricks in a single game was during Austria's 7-5 victory over Switzerland in 1954 with Theodor Wagner of Austria and Josef Hugi both scoring three goals for their respective teams.
• Hat- tricks for the losing team: Josef Hugi of Switzerland and Igor Belanov of the then solvet Union both scored three goals in their team's lose to Austria and Belgium in 1954 and 1986 respectively, but their goals could not save the team from eventual defeat on the day.
• Most number of hat-tricks by a player in the World Cup: The most number of records of hat-tricks by any football player in the history of the World Cup is two. Sandor Kocsis of Hungry, Gerd Muller of Germany, Just Fontaine of France and Gabriel Batistuta of Argentina all have scored two hat-tricks each in the history of the competition.
Sandor Kocsis scored three of his team's 9-0 thumping of South Korea on June 17 1954 before scoring four in the 8-3 demolition of the then West Germany three days later.
Just Fontaine: The French striker has his two hat-tricks against Paraguay and West Germany in the 1958 edition of the FIFA World Cup.
Gerd Muller: The German prolific striker has also scored two hat-tricks in the history of the World Cup, both in Mexico 1970. Muller scored hat-tricks against Peru and Bulgaria in the course of the tournament that year and he eventually turned out to be the only player to have scored a hat-trick in year's edition of the competition.
Gabriel Batistuta: Batistuta has a record of two hat-tricks in the World Cup; one in USA 1994 against Greece and the other against Jamaica in France 1998, this means that he is the only player ever to have score a hat-trick in successive editions of the tournament.
• Country with the most hat-tricks: Players from Germany has scored a total of five hat-tricks beating Argentina and Hungry with four each to second position. Max Morlock (1954), Gerd Muller twice in 1970, Karl Heinz Rumenigge in 1982 and Miroslav Klose in 2002
• Tournament with the most hat-tricks: The 1954 edition of the FIFA World Cup recorded the highest number hat-tricks in a single tournament with a total number of eight. Sandor Kocsis of Hungry twice against South Korea and West Germany, Erich Probst of Austria against Czechoslovakia, Carlos Borges of Uruguay against Scotland, Burthan Sargin of Turkey against South Korea, Max Morlock of West Germany against Turkey, Theodor Wagner of Austria against Switzerland and Josef Hugi of Switzerland against Austria.
• Tournament with the least hat-tricks: The 2006 edition of the FIFA World Cup held in Germany has the least of hat-tricks in the history of the tournament, as no player scored three goals in a single match all through the competition.
Hat-tricks by tournament
|
Year
|
Host
|
Number
|
|
1930
|
Uruguay
|
3
|
|
1934
|
Italy
|
3
|
|
1938
|
France
|
4
|
|
1950
|
Brazil
|
2
|
|
1954
|
Switzerland
|
8
|
|
1958
|
Sweden
|
3
|
|
1962
|
Chile
|
1
|
|
1966
|
England
|
2
|
|
1970
|
Mexico
|
2
|
|
1974
|
West Germany
|
2
|
|
1978
|
Argentina
|
2
|
|
1982
|
Spain
|
4
|
|
1986
|
Mexico
|
4
|
|
1990
|
Italy
|
2
|
|
1994
|
USA
|
2
|
|
1998
|
France
|
1
|
|
2002
|
South Korea/Japan
|
2
|
|
2010
|
South Africa
|
1
|
|
Total
|
|
48
|
Given the quality of strikers like four time Ballon d'or holder, Lionel Messi, two time Ballon d'or holder, Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal, Diego Costa of Spain, Neymar Junior of Brazil, Mario Balotelli of Italy and a host of other wonderful players heading to the tournament, it will be very right to say that the number of hat-tricks will definitely increase and the fans will be thrilled with their skills and brilliance.
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