The 20 players with more hat-tricks than Lionel Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are two of the most prolific players of all time, but neither of them holds the record for the most hat-tricks in football history.
As of writing, Messi has scored 59 career hat-tricks, while Ronaldo has scored 66. Those numbers are hugely impressive, but surprisingly, aren’t good enough to crack the top 20.
According to the statistics gathered by the RSSSF, these are the 20 players with more hat-tricks than both Messi and Ronaldo.
20. Franz Binder – 67 hat-tricks
Regarded as one of the greatest Austrian players of all time, Binder reportedly scored 67 career hat-tricks, with the bulk of them coming for Rapid Wien between 1930 and 1949.
=18. Romario – 70 hat-tricks
While the number of goals that Romario scored throughout his career is disputed, the RSSSF claims he scored 70 hat-tricks in offical matches.
Four of those hat-tricks came for Brazil on the international stage, while the other 66 were scored at club level.
=18. Ferenc Puskas – 70 hat-tricks
As per the RSSSF, Puskas scored 802 goals throughout his career and managed to score 70 hat-tricks in total.
The Hungarian forward was also the first person to score a hat-trick at both the Santiago Bernabeu and Camp Nou.
“He had a roly ply physique but a wonderful left foot and he was a brilliant finisher,” is how England legend Sir Tom Finney described the Hungarian forward.
“I would put Puskas in any list of all-time greats.”
17. Fritz Walter – 71 hat-tricks
The attacking midfielder enjoyed the peak years of his career playing for FC Kaiserslautern and scored a whopping 71 hat-tricks throughout his career.
He played between 1937 and 1959, spending the bulk of his career playing in Germany.
16. Gerd Muller – 72 hat-tricks
Ranked among the best strikers of all time, it’s no surprise that Muller scored so many hat-tricks throughout his career.
Impressively, he scored eight hat-tricks for Germany on the international stage, with two of them coming at the 1970 World Cup.
15. Sammy Hughes – 73 hat-tricks
Hughes spent his entire professional career playing for Glentoran in Northern Ireland, where he scored 73 hat-tricks during his peak years in the 1950s.
=13. Imre Schlosser – 74 hat-tricks
Schlosser is the third-highest-scoring player in the history of the Hungarian top flight with an impressive 368 goals scored.
He’s also scored an impressive 74 hat-tricks throughout in total, with most of them coming for Ferencvaros and MTK Hungaria.
=13. Otto Harder – 74 hat-tricks
The German forward played between 1909 and 1934. He enjoyed his peak years playing for Hamburger, where he scored the bulk of his career hat-tricks.
=11. Tommy Lawton – 76 hat-tricks
The former Everton, Chelsea and Arsenal forward scored 76 hat-tricks during his career, which spanned from 1936 to 1956.
He also boasted a very impressive record on the international stage with 22 goals in 23 games for England.
=11. Boy Martin – 76 hat-tricks
Martin enjoyed some of his best years playing in the Football League for the likes of Wolves, Nottingham Forest and Notts County.
As per the stats from the RSSSF, he scored a total of 76 hat-tricks, which is 10 more than Ronaldo currently has.
10. Frederick Roberts – 77 hat-tricks
Roberts scored the bulk of his goals for Glentoran, but also enjoyed prolific spells with Newington Rangers and Broadway United.
He’s estimated to have scored over 600 goals throughout his career, claiming 77 hat-tricks along the way.
9. Fernando Peyroteo – 80 hat-tricks
Peyroteo spent his entire professional career playing for Sporting between 1937 and 1949.
With 544 goals for the club in offical matches, he’s Sporting’s highest ever scoring player and by quite some distance.
=7. Joseph Bambrick – 86 hat-tricks
The Northern Ireland forward enjoyed his peak years playing for Linfield in the early 1930s.
He also enjoyed stints with Chelsea, Walsall and Glentoran, scoring an impressive 86 hat-tricks in total.
=7. Ronnie Rooke – 86 hat-tricks
The bulk of Rooke’s goals came during wartime matches playing for Fulham whilst simultaneously serving for the RAF.
He also had spells with Arsenal and Crystal Palace, scoring 934 goals throughout his career as per the records from the RSSSF.
6. Pele – 88 hat-tricks
While the total number of goals that Pele scored throughout his career is disputed by various sources, the RSSSF claims that he scored 88 hat-tricks in offical matches.
The Brazilian scored his first professional hat-trick at the age of 16 for Santos and never looked back from that point onward.
In 2023, the Guinness World Records recognised Pele as the player with the most hat-tricks in football history, although the RSSSF have cited five players who scored more.
READ: ‘Pele changed everything’: Werner Roth tells the story of the NY Cosmos
5. Jimmy Jones – 91 hat-tricks
Jones played between 1943 and 1965 and is estimated to have scored around 840 goals.
He averaged an impressive 1.1 goals per game throughout his career and scored a total of 91 hat-tricks as per the RSSSF.
4. Ernst Wilimowski – 96 hat-tricks
Including goals scored in non-official matches, Wilimowski scored 1079 goals during his career, which spanned from 1932 to 1956.
Nicknamed ‘Ezi’, he spent the bulk of his career playing in Germany and scored just shy of 100 hat-tricks in offical matches.
3. Ferenc Deak – 97 hat-tricks
Deak is recognised as the eighth highest-scoring player of all time by the RSSSF, with 795 goals in official matches.
He enjoyed his most prolific years with Szentlorinci and in total, scored a whopping 97 hat-tricks during his career.
2. Josef Bican – 137 hat-tricks
In offical matches, Bican scored just shy of 1000 goals, with 950 to his name, according to the RSSSF.
The Austrian forward once scored five consecutive hat-tricks in five matches back in 1940, a record which still stands to this day.
In total, he’s been credited with 137 hat-tricks, which earns him the second spot on our list.
1. Erwin Helmchen – 142 hat-tricks
In total, Helmchen is estimated to have scored 142 hat-tricks, which is 76 more than Ronaldo currently has and 83 more than Messi.
With 989 career goals, the German forward is recognised by the RSSSF as the highest-scoring player in football history, although the bulk of his goals were scored in the German lower divisions.
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