Cristiano Ronaldo was in the goals once again for Al-Nassr as he notched a hat-trick in their Saudi Pro League clash against Al-Fateh. The Portuguese superstar had failed to score in his opening two league games of the campaign, but he ended that mini drought in style at Prince Abdullah Bin Jalawi Stadium.
Ronaldo notched his first goal in the 38th minute, bagged his second 10 minutes after half-time and then completed his hat-trick in the sixth minute of stoppage-time. It was the 63rd time he has scored a hat-trick in his legendary career, but how does that tally compare to some of the most lethal forwards of the 21st century?
Back in March 2023, IFFHS named the players with the most hat-tricks since 2000. We've updated the figures following Ronaldo's hat-trick against. View the 20 players with the most trebles in the 21st century below...
20 Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Holland) | 18 hat-tricks
The Dutch forward was known as a clinical goalscorer during his long and storied career, with 18 hat-tricks to show for his efforts. His most notable clubs include Ajax, Real Madrid, AC Milan and Schalke - who he played for on two separate occasions.
19 Mario Gomez (Germany) | 18 hat-tricks
Gomez was very much a striker in the same mould as Huntelaar, which shown to such an extent that the pair both scored the same number of hat-tricks throughout their time in the game. The German was at his most dealdy when leading the line for Bayern Munich, where he managed to net 113 times in 174 games for the German giants.
18 Sergio Aguero (Argentina) | 18 hat-tricks
It is quite unsurprising to see the Argentine forward make it onto this list as he was the talisman at both Atletico Madrid - where he formed a formidable partnership with Diego Forlan - and Manchester City. He is also part of an exclusive list of players to have scored five goals in one game, a feat that he achieved during a Premier League match against Newcastle United.
17 Harry Kane (England) | 18 hat-tricks
England's all-time top goalscorer and Tottenham's all-time top scorer was always going to get his name in amongst these players. To be on the same number of hat-tricks as players of the calibre of Aguero, Gomez and Huntelaar is seriously impressive as Kane is the still playing and only 30 years old, while those other names are retired from the game.
16 Erling Haaland (Norway) | 18 hat-tricks
It is just ridiculous that a 23-year-old has the same number of hat-tricks in his career so far as some of the most elite strikers we have seen this century. His final number of career hat-tricks could genuinely be three times as many as he is currently on. With 39 league goals in 38 appearances for Manchester City, the sky is the limit for the Norwegian.
15 Greg Draper (New Zealand) | 20 hat-tricks
A lesser-known name among some of the world's best, there is an argument to be made that Draper was playing against lower quality opposition throughout his career as he played for The New Saints in Wales. Whatever you make of the opposition, the striker did find the net 163 times in the league from 252 games, and that is an impressive record by anyone's standards. More hat-tricks to his name than Kane and Aguero is a nice stat to be able to tell his kids.
14 Firas Al-Khatib (Syria) | 20 hat-tricks
The now 40-year-old played for a variety of clubs in Kuwait, as well as spending some time playing in Iraq and China. This means the quality of the football can once again be brought into question, but to get 20 hat-tricks is still a strong accomplishment. He was obviously a stand-out performer in these leagues as he is the only player from them to make it onto this list. He did also represent Syria at both youth and senior level across two decades.
13 Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden) | 20 hat-tricks
Ibrahimovic is right up there as one of the most impressive strikers of his generation, with the massive Swede being impossible to deal with both physically and technically. He has only just announced his retirement in 2023, after scoring vast amounts of goals for many clubs including Inter Milan, AC Milan, Barcelona and Manchester United. The forward represented the biggest clubs in all of the countries he played in.
12 Abderrazak Hamdallah (Morocco) | 21 hat-tricks
The 32-year-old has scored over 100 league goals in the past five years during his time with Al Nassr and Al Ittihad in the Saudi Pro League. Time spent in Norway and Qatar also proved to be fruitful along with time playing in his native Morocco as Hamdallah has netted more hat-tricks than Ibrahimovic while being almost a decade younger.
11 Neymar (Brazil) | 21 hat-tricks
It might come as a shock that the Brazilian star makes it so high up on this list purely because he is the first name on this list that is not a striker, having played the majority of his games as a left-winger. He did play as a striker at times during his younger years in Brazil, and this earned him his big move to Barcelona. No one tends to question his ability, as Neymar is an incredibly impressive player to watch, but he obviously contributes a significant number of goals too.
10 Sebastián Tagliabúe (UAE) | 21 hat-tricks
South America and the Middle East are the regions the Argentine-born forward has played in during his career with many clubs in that time. Al-Wahda in Abu Dhabi was the most clinical stint in his career as he found the net 152 times in 157 UAE Pro League games between the years of 2013 and 2020.
9 Aleksandar Đurić (Singapore) | 22 hat-tricks
Duric played for almost three decades, as the now 53-year-old played all the way until 2019, retiring at the age of 49 after a career that saw him play for a lot of clubs. 22 hat-tricks shows the ability and goalscoring touch that he possessed during his long time in the game. Spending so long playing is likely to have helped his case as he had more time to get the hat-tricks than his peers.
8 Marc Lloyd Williams (Wales) | 24 hat-tricks
The Welsh forward spent his career playing in the lower leagues in England, as well as the top flight in his home country. His career saw him score 345 goals in 576 games, including 24 hat-tricks in that time. Williams has now been retired for almost a decade with his most impressive spell being at Bangor City where he scored 68 times in 55 games.
7 Vyacheslav Zahovaiko (Estonia) | 26 hat-tricks
26 hat-tricks is impressive by any standards, as the Estonian scored 121 goals in his time with FC Flora in his homeland from 1999 to 2019. In 2006, he was the most efficient forward in front of goal with an average of 1.2 goals per game in the calendar year.
6 Ali Mabkhout (UAE) | 27 hat-tricks
Al Jazira is the only team he has played for in his career. 210 goals in 280 league games is sensational reading and the fans of the club will be gutted when he does eventually hang up his boots. Mabkhout has netted 17 trebles for the UAE Pro League side, while he has also bagged nine hat-tricks for his country.
5 Luis Suarez (Uruguay) | 29 hat-tricks
Suarez is sometimes overlooked for the goalscorer he was, especially while at Barcelona due to the brilliance of Lionel Messi stealing a lot of the spotlight. Bagging just shy of 30 hat-tricks over the course of his career shows just how good he was in front of goal. His time with Ajax, Liverpool and Barcelona brought so many goals along with his brilliant technical ability and will to win.
4 Robert Lewandowski (Poland) | 31 hat-tricks
Lewandowski has the joint-most Bundesliga hat-tricks in a single season with five, the same number as Gomez who also features on this list. Not only that, but the Polish forward has netted a hat-trick for three different clubs in the Champions League with treble's coming for Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and Barcelona. Having also scored six hat-tricks for his country, it is clear he can do it on an international level also.
3 Ali Ashfaq (Maldives) | 35 hat-tricks
This is a name that many fans will be unfamiliar with as Ashfaq played a lot of his games in the Maldives, his home country. At several of the various clubs he played for, the forward managed to score more goals than the number of appearances he had made.
2 Lionel Messi (Argentina) | 57 hat-tricks
The man that scored 91 goals in a calendar year has to settle for only second place in this list, but it has to be said that 57 hat-tricks is absolute insanity. Messi has been a joy to watch over the years and statistics like this have almost become normal feeling, but for a man that spent most of his career on the right-wing to score three times in 57 different games is incredible.
1 Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) | 63 hat-tricks
Speaking of the brilliant achievement of Messi to reach 57 hat-tricks, Ronaldo has managed to keep a nice distance between himself and his biggest rival. Six more hat-tricks - with the majority coming for Real Madrid - could have been down to the fact he spent many years as the central striker, but whatever way you look at it, the Portugal international has absolutely run away with this crown.