Kylian Mbappe scored his fourth Champions League hat-trick on Tuesday night, putting him on track to surpass the record currently held by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Mbappe has more UCL hat-tricks than players like Neymar, Mario Gomez, and Filippo Inzaghi, following his recent exploits against FC Kairat with Real Madrid.
The five players with the most Champions League hat-tricks are broken down below, along with how long it will take Mbappe to surpass them.
=4. Kylian Mbappe – 4 hat-tricks
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The Frenchman is currently halfway to holding the joint record for the most hat-tricks in Champions League history.
He made his 89th appearance in the competition and scored his fourth hat-trick.
He will tie the record in fewer games than Ronaldo, who scored eight hat-tricks in 183 UCL appearances, if he needs to play an additional 89 games to score his next four hat-tricks.
However, if he aspires to surpass Messi in fewer games, he will need to increase his output even further.
=4. Karim Benzema – 4 hat-tricks
Alongside Mbappe is Benzema, who played 152 games in the competition and netted four hat-tricks.
He scored all four of his hat-tricks for Real Madrid against Chelsea, PSG, Malmo, and AJ Auxerre.
3. Robert Lewandowski – 6 hat-tricks
Lewandowski has the potential to overtake Messi and Ronaldo on this list given his current performance.
Having scored 105 goals in 154 games since joining Barcelona in 2022, the 37-year-old is still playing at his best.
=1. Lionel Messi – 8 hat-tricks
Messi has scored eight hat-tricks against Arsenal, Viktoria Plzen, Bayer Leverkusen, Ajax, APOEL, Celtic, Man City, and PSV.
In September 2018, on his 126th Champions League appearance, he scored his final hat-trick in the competition.
=1. Cristiano Ronaldo – 8 hat-tricks
As of now, Messi and Ronaldo share the record with eight hat-tricks apiece.
In March 2019, Ronaldo played his 160th game in the competition and recorded his eighth hat-trick against Atletico Madrid.
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