Hat Tricks - Messi vs Ronaldo Career Hat-tricks

Messi & Ronaldo Hat-tricks

At the peak of their powers, it seemed like Messi and Ronaldo were scoring hat-tricks every other week. They've scored a mind-boggling 125 hat-tricks between them in their glittering careers.

Of those, Messi has scored 59 hat-tricks and Ronaldo has scored 66 hat-tricks.

Having played considerably fewer games, Messi has scored hat-tricks with slightly more regularity over his career. Messi scores a hat-trick every 18.4 games on average, whereas Ronaldo scores a hat-trick for every 19.0 games played.

4 or 5 Goals in a Game

Messi has scored more than 3 goals in a game on 8 separate occasions, scoring 4 goals six times, and 5 goals twice.

Messi 4 goals in a game

Messi 5 goals in a game

Ronaldo has scored more than 3 in a game an impressive 11 times, scoring 4 goals in a game nine times and 5 goals twice.

Ronaldo 4 goals in a game

Ronaldo 5 goals in a game

How many of their hat-tricks include penalties?

Of Messi's 59 career hat-tricks, 12 of them included penalties, meaning 20.3% of all his hat-tricks included a penalty.

Ronaldo scored a penalty in 29 of his 66 career hat-tricks, meaning 43.9% of his hat-tricks have included a penalty goal.

Unique Hat-tricks

Cristiano Ronaldo has scored an unbelievable 10 "perfect" hat-tricks (a hat-trick consisting of 1 right foot goal, 1 left foot goal, and 1 headed goal), clearly demonstrating his superb weak foot and heading ability.

With Messi only scoring 28 headers in his whole career, it may come as no surprise that he hasn't got any perfect hat-tricks to his name.

Leo Messi does however have a weak foot hat-trick to his name, scoring 3 right footed goals in a 2014 Champions League tie against APOEL. Messi has also scored a dead ball hat-trick, consisting of a penalty and 2 direct free kick goals against Celta Vigo in 2019.

Although Ronaldo hasn't quite managed a weak foot hat-trick, an incredible 34 of his 66 hat-tricks (51.5%) have included a weak foot goal. For Messi, it's 25 out of 59 (42.4%).

In 2024, Ronaldo became the first of the two players to score a hat-trick from outside the box, scoring 2 free kicks and 1 from open play in an 8-0 win against Abha in the Saudi Pro League.

Something Ronaldo hasn't quite managed is a hat-trick as a substitute. Messi has now done this twice; the first in a 2016 Copa America group game against Panama when he came on for the final 29 minutes, and the second in a 2024 MLS match against New England when he came on with 33 minutes to play.

How do they score their hat-tricks?

Where do they score their hat-tricks?

19 of Messi's 59 career hat-tricks have come away from home; 32.2%. He's scored 38 hat-tricks at home and 2 in a neutral venue.

• 64.4% hat-tricks scored at home
• 32.2% hat-tricks scored away

23 of Ronaldo's 66 career hat-tricks have been scored in away matches; 34.8%. He's scored 42 hat-tricks in home games and 1 at a neutral venue.

• 63.6% hat-tricks scored at home
• 34.8% hat-tricks scored away

Notable Messi Hat-tricks

Messi began his hat-trick haul with a bang, netting his first ever treble in El Clasico against arch-rivals Real Madrid at 19 years of age. When a Guti free kick flicked in off Sergio Ramos' head, Real looked likely to secure a huge victory, but Messi's superb 91st minute strike ensure the game finished 3-3. Interestingly, this is the only match in which Messi has scored a hat-trick that his side hasn't won.

Another that sticks in the memory is Messi's hat-trick in World Cup qualifying against Ecuador. Argentina had endured a turbulent campaign and required a win in their final game - away to Ecuador - to ensure qualification for Russia 2018. Ecuador scored an early goal and Argentina feared the worst, but then, Messi happened. He struck twice inside the first half an hour to turn the game around and then sealed his hat-trick, along with World Cup qualification, in the second half.

Messi has 8 hat-tricks in the Champions League, which is a record he and Ronaldo currently share. His two most memorable in the competition were against Arsenal and Bayer Leverkusen. Messi produced a simply stunning performance against Arsenal at Camp Nou in 2010, hitting 4 past the English side to mark his very first Champions League hat-trick.

Two years later, he somehow bettered this by scoring FIVE against Bayer Leverkusen in a Last 16 encounter, becoming the first player in history to score 5 in a Champions League fixture (since matched by Luiz Adriano).

In a 2019 La Liga fixture, Messi scored one of his more unique hat-tricks against Celta Vigo, when an early penalty followed by 2 free kicks either side of half-time secured a dead ball hat-trick.

Complete List of Messi Hat-tricks

Notable Ronaldo Hat-tricks

Ronaldo has scored an incredible 10 hat-tricks at international level, two of which particularly stand out.

The first was a crucial World Cup qualification play-off, in which Portugal took a 1-0 first-leg lead to Sweden. After Ronaldo's opener in the second-leg, Ibrahimovic gave Sweden a 2-1 lead as they threatened to turn the tie around. Then, Ronaldo struck twice in three minutes to secure his hat-trick, and qualification for the 2014 World Cup. His third strike also took him to 47 international goals, equalling Pauleta's all time record.

The second Portugal hat-trick that sticks out is of course his World Cup treble against Spain. With Spain largely the better side, Ronaldo salvaged an unlikely draw for Portugal as he fired in a late free-kick to level the match at 3-3. In terms of quality, it's perhaps generous to rank this among his best hat-tricks (one being a penalty and another a goalkeeping howler from De Gea), but on the world stage against one of the best teams in the world, and with the pressure weighing heavy on that late free-kick, it has to be considered one of his most memorable.

In 2016, Real Madrid were in real trouble after going down 2-0 to Wolfsburg in their Champions League quarter-final first-leg. But they needn't have worried. In the second-leg, Ronaldo wiped out their lead in the space of two first half minutes, before scoring a third in the 77th minute to secure Real's semi-final spot.

A year later, he was back at it again. Bayern Munich had forced their quarter-final tie with Real Madrid into extra-time. Ronaldo then struck twice in extra-time to seal his hat-trick and Real's advancement in the competition.

He wasn't finished their though. In the following round he bacme the first player to score back-to-back hat-tricks in the Champions League knockout stage, putting 3 past fierce rivals Atletico Madrid.

Two years later, Ronaldo reinforced his reputation once again for rescuing his sides in the Champions League. This time he was in Juventus colours, with his side 2-0 down after a Last 16 first-leg against Atletico Madrid. In the second-leg... you can guess what happened. Ronaldo netted 2 headers and a penalty to completely turn the tie around, scoring his first Juventus hat-trick in the process. It was also his eighth hat-trick in the Champions League, equalling Messi's competition record.

Complete List of Ronaldo Hat-tricks

If you’re looking for more hat-trick stats, contact us on Twitter at @mvsrapp, and we’ll do our best to help.