Ranking the top 10 fastest hat-tricks in football history

Ranking the top 10 fastest hat-tricks in football history

Kevin Omuya
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:13 PM

It takes a lot of skill to score a hat trick, and it takes even more skill to score the perfect hat trick, one with your left foot, one with your right, and one with your head, but nothing beats scoring all three of your hat-trick goals in a short period. The fastest hat tricks in football history shocked audiences and professionals worldwide.

fastest hat trick in football history
They are the fastest hat tricks in football history. Photo: @kunaguero, @hm_son7 and @sadiomaneofficiel on Instagram (modified by author)
Source: UGC

In a 7-2 victory over England on 2 March 1878, Scotland's John McDougall scored three goals for the first time in an international competition. Multiple players have since scored three or more goals in a single match for their club or national team. Most players who have scored a hat trick have been on the winning team. However, there have been cases where their team has either drawn or lost.

Fastest hat-trick in football history

James Hayter of Bournemouth set the record for the fastest hat trick in Football League history (2 minutes and 22 seconds) in February of 2004, while Sadio Mané of Southampton set the record for the fastest hat trick in Premier League history against Aston Villa on May 16, 2015. Here is the list of football's top 10 fastest hat tricks.

10. Sadio Mane

fastest hat trick in football history
Sadio Mane of Bayern Muenchen during the UEFA Champions League match between FC Bayern München and Viktoria Plzen at Allianz Arena on October 4, 2022, in Munich, Germany. Photo: Roland Krivec
Source: Getty Images

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Sadio Mane, a Senegalese star for Southampton, scored a hat trick against Aston Villa on May 16, 2015, in the record-setting quickest time in the history of the English Premier League. His three-goal record could be accomplished in 2 minutes and 56 seconds. He is the only African player with the fastest hat trick in football history.

9. Ian St John

quickest hat trick in soccer history
Sport, Football, Anfield, England, 1968, Photocall, Liverpool FC's Ian St John. Photo: Bob Thomas
Source: Getty Images

On August 10, 1959, Ian St. John played in the Scottish League Cup for Motherwell FC when he scored three goals in 150 seconds against Hibernia. This was before he was traded to Liverpool

8. Andy Locke

Playing for Nantwich on September 9, 1995, Andy Locke recorded the quickest hat trick in FA Cup history against Druelsden. Locke scored a hat trick in the preliminary rounds of the world's top football tournaments. He scored the goals in 2 minutes and 20 seconds.

7. James Hayter

who has the fastest hat trick in football history
Bournemouth's James Hayter tackled Colchester United's, Kevin Watson. Photo: Tony Marshall
Source: Getty Images

After coming on as a replacement with six minutes remaining, Bournemouth striker James Hayter scored three goals in two minutes and twenty seconds for the fastest hat trick in English football history. There was a resounding 6-0 vote in favour of the landowners at the end of the meeting. 

6. Jimmy O’Connor

who scored the fastest hat trick in football history
Kidderminster Harriers Assistant Manager Jimmy O'Connor during the Vanarama National League match at Aggborough Stadium, Kidderminster, on Saturday, August 13, 2022. Photo: Barrington Coombs
Source: Getty Images

Jimmy O'Connor, a former player from Ireland, scored two goals to help his team, Shelburne, beat their rival, South Burlington, 3-2 in a local league match. He began his record-setting hat trick with a right-footed strike and finished it with a header one minute and twenty-five seconds later. The date of the match was November 19, 1967.

The time required to score his three goals was 2 minutes and 13 seconds. O'Connor would score 26 goals in 109 games for Shelburne, but none were more impressive than his display that November night.

5. Abdel Hamid Bassiouni

Egypt won 8-2 despite missing out on World Cup qualification. Abdel Hamid Bassiouni, a player for Algeria, received gold letters for scoring the fastest international hat trick, an accomplishment for which FIFA lauded him. Despite seemingly being destined for this moment alone, the former Zamalek player never scored a goal for the Pharaohs in any of their other games. In the 2002 World Cup African qualifiers, the fastest time for his goals was 1 minute and 57 seconds.

4. Eduardo Maglioni

quickest hat trick in soccer history
Eduardo Maglioni @seba_cai on Twitter Photo: (modified by author)
Source: Twitter

On March 18, 1978, a player named Eduardo Maglioni scored three goals in 111 seconds to seal a fantastic victory for his side, Independiente, against Gimnasia La Plata, which settled on a 4-1 result, propelling the Argentine League to fourth place on this good list. At the time, publications in Argentina lauded the speedy trio currently ranked top in the country. 

3. Tommy Rose

As a young striker, 18-year-old Tommy Rose surprised the world when, in the previous match, he scored three goals in less than 90 seconds for Ross County versus Nairn County. Many people consider Rose's hat trick in this November 28, 1964, match one of the fastest ever recorded in football. He is one of the players with the fastest hat trick in football league history.

2. Magnus Arvidsson

fastest hat trick in football league history
1973Sportler, Fussball Schweden, Hansa Rostock's Magnus Arvidsson. Photo: contrast/Boris Streubel
Source: Getty Images

Magnus Arvidson, a former Swedish player, earned the second-fastest hat trick in history. A player for Hasleholm scored three goals against Landskrona in 89 seconds; the final result was 5-3, and Hasleholm avoided relegation to Sweden's second tier in the 1994–1995 season. He is the only Swedish player with the quickest hat trick in soccer history.

1. Alex Torr

fastest hat trick in football history
Alex Torr celebrates his goal with Maguire. Photo: @AlexDavidTorr on Twitter (modified by author)
Source: Twitter

In a record-setting time, Alex Torr of Rawson Spring scored three goals against Wayne Gardner's squad in the British Amateur League. It is a global record that Guinness has officially recognized, and it will be tough for any other player to beat. The team captained by Alex Torr won this match 7-1 on April 28, 2013. Torr is the only British who scored the fastest hat trick in football history.

Who scored a hat trick in 70 seconds?

Alex Torr, a player in a Sunday league, scored three goals in the shortest time ever. Referee Matt Tyers validated the goals and said he had never seen anything like it in his career.

What is the quickest hat trick in Premier League history?

Only seven players in the history of the Premier League have managed to score three goals in under ten minutes. At the 2015 Premier League match between Southampton and Aston Villa, Sadio Mane scored a hat trick in just 2 minutes and 56 seconds to set a new record.

There have been many hat tricks in various leagues globally. Unfortunately, most of the football's big names are not found on the list despite having broken other records. The list of the fastest hat trick in football history is long, with names like Kun Aguero, Son Min Hueng, Christiano Ronaldo, Messi and Lewandowski, among others.

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Authors
Kevin Omuya photo
Kevin Omuya
Kevin Omuya is a Content Writer with 4 years of experience who joined Sports Brief in 2022. In 2019 he held a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism & Digital Media from KCA University.