We look back at all the need-to-know facts surrounding hat-tricks at the Women’s World Cup.
Which Player Has Scored the Most Women’s World Cup Hat-Tricks?
Well, the real answer for this one would be long. There have been 27 hat-tricks scored in Women’s World Cup history, but all 27 have been netted by different players.
From the first in 1991 – scored by Italy’s Carolina Morace – until the most recent one – scored by France’s Kadidiatou Diani in 2023 – nobody has yet been able to repeat the feat.
Despite there being five players involved in the 2023 Women’s World Cup who had previously netted hat-tricks in the tournament – Switzerland pair Fabienne Humm and Ramona Bachmann, USA’s Alex Morgan, Italy’s Cristiana Girelli and Australia’s Sam Kerr – none were able to add to their tallies.
In the case of Morgan, her previous hat-trick in the tournament came as part of a five-goal haul in a record 13-0 win against Thailand in 2019. That remains the joint-record for most goals in a single game at the Women’s World Cup – shared with fellow American Michelle Akers – and it came in the USWNT’s opening group stage game of the last tournament.
Have There Ever Been Multiple Hat-Tricks in a Women’s World Cup Game?
There have been four instances of multiple hat-trick scorers in a single game at the Women’s World Cup, with all four being teammate duos. The first to do it – as the historical entertainers that they are – were Brazil pair Sissi and Pretinha, who both netted hat-tricks in a 7-1 win over Mexico in 1999.
The most recent instance came in the 2015 tournament, with Swiss duo Fabienne Humm and Ramona Bachmann both doing so against Ecuador in a 10-1 victory. Indeed, Humm’s treble in this match remains the quickest ever hat-trick scored at the Women’s World Cup – just 247 seconds separated her first and third goals in the game.
Germany, meanwhile, are the only nation who have achieved the feat of multiple hat-trick scorers on more than one occasion. Accounting for two of the four overall, they did so in 2007 against Argentina through Sandra Smisek and Birgit Prinz, before repeating it in 2015 with Anja Mittag and Célia Sasic against Ivory Coast.
Has Anyone Ever Scored a Hat-Trick in a Women’s World Cup Final?
Only one player has netted a hat-trick in the showpiece of this tournament, and she wasn’t hanging around in achieving the feat.
In the 2015 final against Japan, it took the United States’ Carli Lloyd just over a quarter of an hour into the game to complete her treble. After securing a brace within the opening five minutes to set her team on the way, Lloyd netted her third in the 16th minute to confirm her place in history.
In fact, Lloyd’s hat-trick in the 2015 final was only the second instance of a player scoring more than once in a Women’s World Cup final, never mind a treble. It had been almost 14 years since Michelle Akers’ brace in the 1991 final, before Lloyd matched it and then surpassed it within 16 minutes of kick-off.
A World Cup final hat-trick is a very rare beast, but after Kylian Mbappé’s feat in the men’s final back in December 2022, perhaps inspiration won’t be in short supply…
Which Player Has Scored the Most Women’s World Cup Goals Without Scoring a Hat-Trick?
Marta is the all-time top scorer at the Women’s World Cup, netting a record 17 times for Brazil. She has scored at the tournament as a teenager, in her 20s, and in her 30s. She’s scored the most braces of any player (five), and no-one has netted in more different games overall (12).
And yet, a World Cup hat-trick evaded her.
Ironically, there are eight players in Women’s World Cup history whose only goals in the competition have come courtesy of a single hat-trick. Four of those – in the form of Kristin Sandberg, Mio Otani, Gaelle Enganamouit and Ary Borges – all scored hat-tricks on their debuts in the tournament and then (to date) never scored again.
The fleeting nature of the scoring touch…
Who Are the Youngest and Oldest Hat-Trick Scorers at the Women’s World Cup?
Inka Grings became the first German player to score a hat-trick at the Women’s World Cup, courtesy of her three goals against Mexico in 1997. And to this day, she remains the youngest player to have scored a hat-trick at the tournament.
Grings was just 20 years and 237 days old at the time of netting her treble, which came in an eventual 6-0 win against Mexico. She netted the opening goal of the game, added another in the 57th minute, and then capped off the rout with an added time strike to complete her hat-trick.
Grings remains the only under-21 player to have scored a hat-trick at the Women’s World Cup.
At the other end of the spectrum, the 2019 tournament saw Brazil’s Cristiane become the oldest hat-trick scorer at the Women’s World Cup. Aged 34 years and 25 days at the time of doing so against Jamaica, her treble came in what was her fifth and final appearance at the tournament, having first appeared as an 18-year-old back in 2003.
Interestingly, Cristiane is also the only player in Women’s World Cup history to score a hat-trick when it accounts for every goal scored by their team in that game. Her three strikes against Jamaica in 2019 served to help Brazil to a 3-0 victory, while she sealed her hat-trick with a top-corner finish from a free-kick – just for extra style points.
Which Nations Have Had the Most Hat-Trick Scorers at the Women’s World Cup?
Germany account for just shy of a fifth of all hat-tricks scored at the Women’s World Cup (18.5%), having netted five of the 27 in the competition’s history. Inka Grings scored their first in 1999, Sandra Smisek and Birgit Prinz added to it in 2007, before Anja Mittag and Célia Sasic repeated in 2015.
USA, meanwhile, aren’t far behind their European competitors having had four different hat-trick scorers themselves. Michelle Akers and Carin Jennings both netted one in the 1991 edition, before Carli Lloyd in 2015 and Alex Morgan in 2019 added to their collection. Indeed, in the case of the latter two, USA are the only nation who have had hat-trick scorers in each of the last two editions.
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