Since the inception of international association football matches in 1872, 59 England male footballers have scored three or more goals (a hat-trick) in a game. The first players to score a hat-trick for England were Howard Vaughton and Arthur Alfred Brown, both Aston Villa players; in a friendly match against Ireland in 1882, they scored nine goals between them.[1] Four players, Vaughton, Steve Bloomer, Willie Hall and Malcolm Macdonald, have scored five goals in one match. Jimmy Greaves has scored the greatest number of hat-tricks, with six. Five players, Albert Allen, Frank Bradshaw, Walter Gilliat, John Veitch and John Yates, have scored hat-tricks on their only international appearance.
In the 1966 FIFA World Cup Final, Geoff Hurst scored a hat-trick, generally considered one of the most famous of all time.[2][3][4] The most recent hat-trick was scored by Bukayo Saka in a European Championship qualifier against North Macedonia in June 2023.
England have conceded eleven hat-tricks since 1872, the most recent being scored by Zlatan Ibrahimović who scored four goals in a 4–2 defeat by Sweden in a friendly match in November 2012. Richard Hofmann was the first player from outside the Home Nations to score a hat-trick against England, scoring three times for Germany in a friendly match in May 1930. Previously only the Scottish players John McDougall, George Ker, John Smith, Robert Smyth McColl and Alex Jackson had scored hat-tricks against England.
Hat-tricks for England
- Wartime internationals, not regarded as official matches, are not included in the list.
Hat-tricks conceded by England
England have conceded eleven hat-tricks, the first five of which were scored by players from Scotland. England have lost ten of the eleven matches in which they have conceded a hat-trick; the other was a 3–3 draw against Germany in 1930.
Date | Goals | Player | Opponent | Venue | Competition | Result[a] | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2 March 1878 | 3 | John McDougall | Scotland | Hampden Park, Glasgow | Friendly | 2–7 | [5] |
13 March 1880 | 3 | George Ker | Scotland | Hampden Park, Glasgow | Friendly | 4–5 | [5] |
12 March 1881 | 3 | John Smith | Scotland | Kennington Oval, London | Friendly | 1–6 | [5] |
7 April 1900 | 3 | Robert Smyth McColl | Scotland | Celtic Park, Glasgow | 1899–1900 British Home Championship | 1–4 | [8] |
31 March 1928 | 3 | Alex Jackson | Scotland | Wembley Stadium, London | 1927–28 British Home Championship | [9] | |
10 May 1930 | 3 | Richard Hofmann | Germany | Deutsches Stadion, Berlin | Friendly | 3–3 | [38] |
25 November 1953 | 3 | Nándor Hidegkuti | Hungary | Wembley Stadium, London | Friendly | [39][40] | |
11 May 1958 | 3 | Aleksandar Petaković | Yugoslavia | Jugoslavija Narodna Armia, Belgrade | Friendly | 0–5 | [12] |
17 May 1959 | 3 | Juan Seminario | Peru | Estadio Nacional, Lima | Friendly | 1–4 | [12] |
15 June 1988 | 3 | Marco van Basten | Netherlands | Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf | 1988 European Championship finals | 1–3 | [41] |
14 November 2012 | 4 | Zlatan Ibrahimović | Sweden | Friends Arena, Solna Municipality | Friendly | 2–4 | [42] |
Statistics
The following table lists the number of hat-tricks scored by English
players who have scored two or more hat-tricks.[43]
Competition | Hat-tricks |
---|---|
Friendlies | 34 |
British Home Championship | 31 |
UEFA European Championship qualifying | 10 |
UEFA European Championship | 0 |
FIFA World Cup qualification | 14 |
FIFA World Cup | 3 |
Total | 92 |
Rank | Opponent | Hat-tricks |
---|---|---|
1 | Ireland (incl. Northern Ireland) | 21 |
2 | Wales | 10 |
3 | Luxembourg | 5 |
4 | Portugal | 4 |
5 | Austria | 3 |
Belgium | ||
Hungary | ||
San Marino | ||
Scotland | ||
Turkey | ||
United States | ||
12 | Bulgaria | 2 |
Czech Republic (incl. Czechoslovakia) | ||
Sweden | ||
Poland | ||
Germany (incl. West Germany) | ||
17 | Albania | 1 |
Colombia | ||
Croatia | ||
Cyprus | ||
Denmark | ||
France | ||
Jamaica | ||
Republic of Ireland | ||
Malaysia | ||
Mexico | ||
Montenegro | ||
Netherlands | ||
North Macedonia | ||
Norway | ||
Panama | ||
Peru | ||
Soviet Union | ||
Spain | ||
Switzerland | ||
Total | 90 |
See also
- England national football team records and statistics
- List of Scotland national football team hat-tricks
- List of Wales national football team hat-tricks
- List of Republic of Ireland national football team hat-tricks
- List of Germany national football team hat-tricks
- List of France national football team hat-tricks
- List of Spain national football team hat-tricks
- List of Portugal national football team hat-tricks