Ronaldo, Messi, Benzema, Lewandowski: Who has the most hat-tricks?
Robert Lewandowski and Karim Benzema certainly delivered the goods for their respective teams in the Champions League this week.
On Tuesday evening, Lewandowski scored a first half hat-trick for Bayern Munich in a 7-1 victory over Red Bull Salzburg that booked the team’s place in the quarter-finals.
Then the following night, Benzema went into ‘beast mode’ for Real Madrid to inspire a comeback victory over Paris Saint-Germain.
The Frenchman netted a hat-trick of his own at the Bernabeu to secure a 3-1 win that will see Los Blancos join Bayern in next week’s quarter-final draw.
Two of the greatest strikers of all time strutted their stuff in club football’s biggest competition yet again and it was just glorious to see.
And in the wake of Lewandowski and Benzema’s latest trebles, the folks over at PopFoot have decided to work out the 20 players with the most hat-tricks for club and country in the entirety of the 21st century thus far.
So, let’s take a look at their findings…
20. Wayne Rooney (Retired) | 9 hat-tricks
19. Edin Dzeko (Inter Milan) | 9 hat-tricks
18. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) | 9 hat-tricks
17. Miroslav Klose (Retired) | 9 hat-tricks
16. Gareth Bale (Real Madrid) | 9 hat-tricks
15. Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain) | 9 hat-tricks
14. Thierry Henry (Retired) | 11 hat-tricks
13. Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain) | 11 hat-tricks
12. Gonzalo Higuain (Inter Miami) | 12 hat-tricks
11. Roberto Soldado (Levante) | 12 hat-tricks
10. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Barcelona) | 12 hat-tricks
9. Edinson Cavani (Manchester United) | 15 hat-tricks
8. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (AC Milan) | 17 hat-tricks
7. Sergio Aguero (Retired) | 18 hat-tricks
6. Mario Gomez (Retired) | 18 hat-tricks
5. Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) | 18 hat-tricks
4.