Has Cristiano Ronaldo Scored more Hat-tricks than Lionel Messi in his Career?
Portugal’s legendary number seven Cristiano Ronaldo has been among the headlines recently after his phenomenal run of goal-scoring form for his Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr. The 39-year-old has not only been netting goals consistently in the 2023-2024 season but has been scoring them in bulk.
Cristiano Ronaldo bags consecutive hat-tricks for Al-Nassr
Cristiano Ronaldo bagged his second hat-trick for Al-Nassr in a space of five days. Even at the age of 39 the veteran forward is proving to be a menace for the opposition’s defenders. CR7 has now two hat-tricks and two assists to his name in his last two outings for the Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr. This signifies the kind of form he is in at the moment. The footballing hierarchy has been truly bamboozled by his recent on-field performances.
The Portuguese forward scored a magnificent hat-trick in Al-Nassr’s mauling 5-1 win over Al Tai on Saturday, March 30. He then aided it with an icing on the cake by chipping in with another treble of goals in Al-Nassr’s following fixture against Abha. Ronaldo registered another sensational hat-trick as his side defeated Abha by an astounding scoreline of 8-0.
CR7 played for just the first half of the game against Abha and utilized it with flying colors. With the pace of fixtures coming up for Al-Nassr in April, Luis Castro may have one eye on the workload management of his star number seven. However, if Ronaldo can produce such outcomes by appearing for half a match, one wonders what can he achieve if he plays for the full 90 minutes in the upcoming matches for Al-Nassr, especially with the form that he has been in.
Cristiano Ronaldo has now scored a total of 65 hat-tricks in his career. Breaking the number we arrive at 55 hat-tricks for him at the club level while the remaining 10 have been scored by him for Portugal on the international stage. CR7 averages around 18.7 matches per hat-trick scored by him at the highest level.
How many hat-tricks has Lionel Messi scored?
Over the years Lionel Messi has been considered as Cristiano Ronaldo’s closest rival. Messi has also been a consistent scorer for both the clubs and the country he has played for in the last decade or so. Although his playing style is a bit different than that of his Portuguese counterpart, they do compete in terms of various statistical numbers.
Lionel Messi has scored a respectable tally of 57 hat-tricks in his career so far. These numbers include hat-tricks scored by him at both the club and the country level. As far as the average for a hat-trick scored goes for Leo, he does average about 18.5 games for each hat-trick netted by him at the highest level.
Also Read: Cristiano Ronaldo Named Saudi Pro League Player of the Month