A hat trick refers to an individual achievement in which a player scores three goals in a single match. A perfect hat trick is a variation in which a player scores, in no particular order, one goal with the left foot, one with the right foot, and one with a header. Before the 2026 FIFA World Cup began, players had scored 54 hat tricks in the tournament, with American Bert Patenaude credited with scoring the competition’s first hat trick in 1930. On June 16, 2026, Argentine superstar Lionel Messi scored his first World Cup hat trick in a match against Algeria. At 38 years 357 days old, Messi became the oldest player to achieve the feat. Brazilian legend Pelé, who was 17 years 244 days old when he scored three goals in his team’s 5–2 semifinal win over France at the 1958 World Cup, is the youngest hat trick scorer in the men’s World Cup.
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