A Hat-Trick Glossary: Perfect, Natural and Other Three-Goal Records Explained

A hat-trick is three goals scored by one player in a single match, and it is one of football's most celebrated individual feats. Goal records of the kind listed on RubiScore make hat-tricks easy to spot, but the vocabulary around them is less precise than it looks. This glossary sets out the main terms, the counting rules and how hat-trick records are measured.

The terms are grouped by theme, from the basic definitions to the records built on them. Match data, including the scorer and minute of every goal, is available at https://rubiscore.com, and most of the confusion around hat-tricks comes from a few definitions that are used loosely.

The Basics

Hat-trick. Three goals by the same player in one match. The goals can come in any order, from any method of scoring that is credited to the player, and at any point in the match, including extra time.

Origin of the term. The phrase comes from cricket. In 1858, the English bowler H. H. Stephenson took three wickets with three consecutive balls and was presented with a hat bought from a collection, according to the most widely repeated account. The term moved into football and other sports later.

Brace. Two goals by the same player in one match. The word is common in British football writing, while other languages use their own terms.

Four and five goals. English has no universally accepted word for four or five goals by one player, although informal terms appear in some countries. Spanish-language football writing, for example, uses "póker" for four goals by one player.

Match ball. By long-standing tradition, a player who scores a hat-trick keeps the match ball, often signed by teammates. It is a custom, not a rule.

Types of Hat-Trick

Perfect hat-trick. Three goals by the same player in one match, one scored with the left foot, one with the right foot and one with the head. It is the most specific and widely recognised variation.

Natural hat-trick. Three consecutive goals by the same player, with no goal by anyone else in between. Some definitions also require the goals to come within the same half. Because the definition varies, records of natural hat-tricks are less reliable than records of hat-tricks in general.

Hat-trick of penalties. Three goals from the penalty spot in one match. It counts as a standard hat-trick, but it is often noted separately because it depends on the referee awarding three penalties.

Substitute hat-trick. Three goals by a player who came on during the match. It is a variation of interest mainly because of the limited time available.

Hat-trick of assists. Three assists by the same player in one match. It borrows the term but is a separate statistic, and it depends on the assist rules of the data provider recording it.

The Counting Rules

Penalties. A goal from a penalty kick during play counts towards a hat-trick like any other goal.

Extra time. Goals scored in extra time are part of the match and count towards a player's total for that match.

Penalty shoot-outs. Kicks in a shoot-out are not goals in the statistical sense. They decide the tie but are not added to a player's goal total, so they cannot complete a hat-trick.

Own goals. An own goal is credited to no attacking player, so it cannot form part of a hat-trick.

Disputed goals. When a shot is deflected, the goal may be credited to the shooter or recorded as an own goal, depending on the official decision. Changes to that decision after the match can create or remove a hat-trick in the record.

Abandoned matches. Goals in a match that is abandoned and later replayed are generally removed from the official record, along with any hat-trick scored in it.

Records and How They Are Measured

Fastest hat-trick. Usually measured as the time between a player's first and third goals, rather than from kick-off. The best-known example in the Premier League is Sadio Mané's hat-trick for Southampton against Aston Villa in 2015, completed within three minutes of his first goal.

Hat-trick in a World Cup final. Only two players have scored a hat-trick in a men's World Cup final: Geoff Hurst for England in 1966 and Kylian Mbappé for France in 2022. In the women's game, Carli Lloyd scored a hat-trick for the United States in the 2015 Women's World Cup final, all three goals coming in the opening minutes of the match.

First World Cup hat-trick. For many years, the first hat-trick in World Cup history was credited to Argentina's Guillermo Stábile at the 1930 tournament. FIFA later recognised the United States forward Bert Patenaude, who had scored three times against Paraguay earlier in the same tournament. The change shows that hat-trick records can be revised when the attribution of individual goals is re-examined.

Most hat-tricks. Career totals depend on which matches are counted. Including or excluding friendlies, unofficial matches and matches in certain competitions can produce very different totals for the same player. International hat-tricks add a further layer of uncertainty, because scorer records for older international matches are sometimes incomplete or disputed, and different sources may credit the same goal to different players.

Hat-tricks per season. Season totals depend on the number of matches available, which varies by league size and cup runs, so comparisons across leagues need care.

Terms That Borrow the Word

Hat-trick of titles. Three consecutive league titles or trophies of the same kind, such as three successive championships. The phrase is common in club history but has nothing to do with goals.

Treble. Three major trophies won in the same season, such as a league title, a domestic cup and a continental trophy. It is often confused with a hat-trick of titles, but the two describe different things: a treble is three different trophies in one season, while a hat-trick of titles is the same trophy in three consecutive seasons.

Team hat-trick. Sometimes used informally for a team scoring three goals in a short spell, but it is not a standard statistical term.

Hat-Tricks in the Data

Hat-trick probability. An estimate of how likely a player was to score three or more goals, given the chances he had. Using expected goals, each shot is assigned a probability of being scored, and the chance of at least three goals can be calculated from those values. A player with three shots each worth 0.5 expected goals has a one-in-eight chance of scoring all three, which shows how much a hat-trick depends on finishing above expectation.

Expected goals in a hat-trick match. The total expected goals a player accumulated in a match where he scored three times. A low total suggests exceptional finishing or good fortune, while a high total suggests the chances were simply very good. Both happen, and the figure helps separate the two.

Hat-trick rate. The number of hat-tricks a player scores per match or per season. Because hat-tricks are rare, the rate is volatile, and it reflects a team's style as well as the player's ability. Strikers in dominant teams have more chances to score three, while equally talented forwards in weaker teams rarely do.

Penalty share. The proportion of a player's hat-tricks that include at least one penalty. It is a useful context figure, because regular penalty takers have a clear advantage in reaching three goals.

How the Terms Relate

The core definition is simple: three goals, one player, one match. Everything else either narrows that definition or borrows the word. Perfect and natural hat-tricks add conditions about how or when the goals were scored. The counting rules decide which goals qualify. The records depend on those rules being applied consistently.

When reading a claim about hat-tricks, a few questions settle most confusion:

• Which competition and which matches are counted?
• Were any goals reattributed after the match?
• Does the term refer to goals, assists or trophies?
• For variations, which definition is being used?

Goal-by-goal match records, such as those on RubiScore, make it possible to check each of these points directly, rather than relying on a headline total.

The Takeaway

A hat-trick is one of the clearest feats in football, but its vocabulary is surprisingly loose. Perfect hat-tricks have a firm definition, natural hat-tricks do not, and the counting rules for penalties, extra time, shoot-outs and own goals decide which goals qualify. Records built on hat-tricks, from the fastest to the most in a career, are only as reliable as the definitions and match lists behind them.