Fastest World Cup hat-tricks in history: Ousmane Dembele 2nd… | OneFootball

Blink and you’ll miss him – Ousmane Dembele has just put his name to one of the World Cup’s quickest ever hat tricks.

If you thought France were just about Kylian Mbappe – and fair enough, his World Cup record is phenomenal – you’d be overlooking the reigning Ballon d’Or holder.

Indeed, it was Dembele who lit up the first half of France’s final group-stage clash against Norway, becoming just the sixth player ever – and first since 1994 – to score a World Cup hat trick within the opening 45 minutes.

Here are the quickest hat tricks in World Cup history, ranked by how much time had gone in the game by the time of each player’s third goal.

1. Erich Probst – 24′ (Austria v Czechoslovakia, 1954)

You’ve probably never heard of Probst, who never moved outside Austria in his playing career at club level.

But he was one of the best goalscorers of the 1954 World Cup, after scoring his first five international goals in one qualifying game against Portugal.

At the tournament itself, Probst hit a first-half hat trick against Czechoslovakia in a 5-0 win. His goals came in the fourth, 21st and 24th minutes.

Having also scored in their first group game against Scotland, Probst proceeded to score in the quarter-finals and semi-finals before his nation were knocked out.

2. Ousmane Dembele – 32′ (France v Norway, 2026)

Dembele’s first 12 World Cup appearances? No goals.

But then the floodgates opened. After finally opening his account against Iraq, Dembele burst into life against Norway with goals after seven, 20 and 32 minutes.

Impressively, it wasn’t just about him for the third of those goals. Every single France player touched the ball in the build up.

3. Gary Lineker – 34′ (England v Poland, 1986)

Lineker got the Golden Boot for his efforts in the 1986 World Cup, coming to life with his hat trick against Poland at the end of the group stage.

His goals in the eighth, 13th and 36th minutes were the only ones of the game, sealing a 3-0 win for his side.

A brace in the round of 16 followed, and then a goal in the quarter-final loss to Argentina.

4. Gerd Muller – 39′ (West Germany v Peru, 1970)

One of the great World Cup scorers with 14 goals from 13 games in the competition, Muller hit back to back hat tricks in the 1970 group stage.

It took until the 88th minute for him to complete the first of those against Bulgaria, but he was much more rapid a few days later against Peru.

Muller opened the scoring after 19 minutes and completed a perfect hat trick 20 minutes later, scoring with his right foot, left foot and then head.

He finished as the tournament’s top scorer.

5. Gustav Wetterstrom – 44′ (Sweden v Cuba, 1938)

Ah, remember this one like it was yesterday.

The first ever first-half hat trick in World Cup history was scored by Sweden’s Wetterstrom, who was making his competition debut.

He scored Sweden’s second goal of their quarter-final tie after 22 minutes, the same amount of time it took to get his next two.

Sweden romped to an 8-0 win over Cuba, but lost 5-1 to Hungary in the semi-finals, which was Wetterstrom’s only other World Cup appearance ever.

6. Oleg Salenko – 44′ (Russia v Cameroon, 1994)

Salenko boasts one of the most impressive goals-to-games ratios in World Cup history, with six goals from three appearances.

Five of those goals came in one game against Cameroon in the 1994 group stage. He also got the assist for the last goal of Russia’s 6-1 win for good measure.

Salenko had opened the scoring after 15 minutes, before scoring two goals in the last five minutes of the first half and adding another couple in the second half.