What Is a Hat-Trick in Football?
A hat-trick in football means one player scoring three goals in the same match. The goals do not have to be scored consecutively, and other players can score between them. As long as the same player scores three legitimate goals during the match, the achievement counts as a hat-trick.
Hat-tricks are relatively rare because football is generally a low-scoring sport. Even prolific forwards frequently finish matches with one or two goals, so scoring three represents an exceptional individual attacking performance.
Several terms and rules are associated with hat-tricks. A player can score a perfect or natural hat-trick, goals in extra time can count, while kicks taken in a penalty shootout cannot.
What Counts as a Hat-Trick in Football?
A player completes a hat-trick by scoring three legitimate goals during a single match. The method used to score them does not matter.
A hat-trick can include:
- goals from open play;
- penalties taken during the match;
- direct free kicks;
- headers;
- any combination of legitimate goals.
For example, a player could score from open play in the 15th minute, convert a penalty in the 50th and score a header in the 80th. Those three goals would constitute a hat-trick.
They do not have to come consecutively or in the same half. Teammates and opponents can score between them without affecting the achievement.
An own goal does not contribute to a player’s hat-trick because it is recorded as an own goal rather than being credited to the attacking player.
Do Extra-Time Goals Count Towards a Hat-Trick?
Yes. Goals scored during extra time count towards a hat-trick because extra time remains part of the match.
If a player scores twice during the regular 90 minutes of a knockout game and then scores again during extra time, the three goals form a hat-trick.
This can occur in knockout competitions when a match remains level after regulation time and an additional 30 minutes are played.
Do Penalty Shootout Goals Count Towards a Hat-Trick?
No. Penalty shootout goals do not count towards a hat-trick.
A shootout is used to determine the winner of a tied knockout match, but successful kicks are not added to the player’s individual match goal total.
This is different from a penalty awarded during normal or extra time. A successful penalty taken while the match is still being played counts as a regular goal and can therefore form part of a hat-trick.
A player who scores twice during the match and then converts a kick in the subsequent shootout has still scored only two official match goals.
What Is a Perfect Hat-Trick in Football?
A perfect hat-trick occurs when a player scores three goals in the same match in three different ways:
- one with the right foot;
- one with the left foot;
- one with the head.
The goals can be scored in any order and do not have to come consecutively.
Perfect hat-tricks are particularly notable because they demonstrate a player’s versatility as a finisher. Instead of scoring three similar goals, the player has to convert chances with both feet and in the air.
Every perfect hat-trick is therefore a hat-trick, but not every hat-trick is a perfect one.
What Is a Natural Hat-Trick in Football?
A natural hat-trick generally refers to a player scoring three consecutive goals in a match without another player scoring between them.
For example, if a match is 0–0 and the same striker scores the next three goals to make it 3–0, the player has completed a natural hat-trick.
A natural hat-trick should not be confused with the standard definition. Three consecutive goals are not required for an ordinary hat-trick.
The term is also more common in some sporting cultures than others and is less fundamental to football terminology than the standard hat-trick or perfect hat-trick.
Where Does the Term Hat-Trick Come From?
The term “hat-trick” originated in cricket rather than football and dates back to the 19th century.
It became associated with a bowler taking three wickets with three consecutive deliveries. According to the traditional explanation, a collection was held to reward the player for the achievement, with the proceeds used to buy him a hat.
The expression subsequently spread to other sports as a general term for achieving something notable three times.
Football adopted it for a player scoring three goals in one match, and the term is now widely used across leagues and competitions around the world.
Why Is Scoring a Hat-Trick Difficult?
Scoring three goals in one football match requires more than simply being a prolific goalscorer.
A player needs enough scoring opportunities and must convert an unusually high proportion of them. Position, playing time, penalty duties, set-piece responsibilities and the attacking quality of the team can all influence the likelihood of a hat-trick.
The opposition matters as well. Defensive quality, tactical setup and the state of the match can significantly change both the number and quality of chances available.
Scoring form is therefore only one factor in a broader football prediction. Opposition quality, injuries, tactical matchups, home advantage and expected line-ups can all affect attacking performance and the likelihood of an individual player scoring.
What Happens to the Match Ball After a Hat-Trick?
A long-standing football tradition allows a player who scores a hat-trick to take a match ball home as a souvenir.
It is a custom rather than a rule affecting the official result or statistics. At professional level, hat-trick scorers are often photographed with the ball after the match, and teammates sometimes sign it as a keepsake.
Modern professional games generally use multiple physical balls, so the souvenir does not necessarily have to be the exact same ball involved in all three goals.
The tradition is primarily a way of commemorating an exceptional individual performance.
What Is Scoring Four Goals in Football Called?
There is no English football term for four goals that is as universally established as “hat-trick” is for three.
A player scoring four times is commonly said to have scored four goals or recorded a four-goal haul.
The word poker is used for a four-goal performance in some countries and football cultures, but it is not standard English-language football terminology.
Similarly, five goals can simply be described as a five-goal haul. Six goals are sometimes informally referred to as a double hat-trick.
As the number of goals increases, the terminology becomes less standardized because such performances are extremely rare.
What Is the Difference Between a Brace and a Hat-Trick?
A brace means one player has scored two goals in a match, while a hat-trick means the same player has scored three.
| Term | Goals by one player |
| Brace | 2 |
| Hat-trick | 3 |
| Four-goal haul | 4 |
| Five-goal haul | 5 |
A player who has scored a brace therefore needs one additional goal to complete a hat-trick.
The terms describe individual scoring totals rather than the overall score of the match.
Can a Substitute Score a Hat-Trick?
Yes. A substitute can score a hat-trick.
There is no requirement for the player to be in the starting XI or to play a minimum number of minutes. If a substitute enters the match and scores three legitimate goals before it ends, the performance counts exactly like any other hat-trick.
Doing so can be particularly impressive because the substitute has less time on the pitch to create and convert three scoring opportunities.
Substitute hat-tricks also demonstrate why playing time alone cannot determine the likelihood of a major individual scoring performance.
Can a Defender or Goalkeeper Score a Hat-Trick?
Yes. A player’s position has no effect on whether three goals count as a hat-trick.
Forwards score the majority because they generally receive more opportunities around the opposition goal. However, attacking midfielders and defenders can also score three times.
Defenders who are dangerous at corners and free kicks or who take penalties have more realistic opportunities to achieve it.
A goalkeeper could theoretically score a hat-trick as well, although this would be extraordinarily unusual. Three legitimate goals credited to the same player constitute a hat-trick regardless of whether that player is a striker, midfielder, defender or goalkeeper.
Famous Hat-Trick Records in Football
Some hat-tricks have become notable not simply because a player scored three goals, but because of how quickly the goals were scored or how often a player repeated the achievement.
One of the best-known records belongs to Sadio Mané, who scored the fastest hat-trick in Premier League history while playing for Southampton against Aston Villa on 16 May 2015. Mané scored three times in just 2 minutes and 56 seconds, breaking the previous Premier League record held by Robbie Fowler.
The UEFA Champions League has its own record. Mohamed Salah scored the fastest hat-trick in Champions League history in 6 minutes and 12 seconds for Liverpool against Rangers in October 2022. He achieved it after entering the match as a substitute.
Frequency provides another way to compare notable hat-trick records. Sergio Agüero holds the Premier League record with 12 hat-tricks, ahead of other prolific scorers in the competition’s history.
In the Champions League, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo share the record with eight hat-tricks each, while Robert Lewandowski has six.
These figures are best compared within individual competitions rather than treated as universal world records. Historical record-keeping, competition formats and the matches included in statistical databases differ across countries and eras, so competition-specific records provide a clearer basis for comparison.