Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro will without a doubt go down as one of, if not thee, greatest players to ever play the game. Countless trophies with club and country, along with a litany of personal accolades, have seen the legendary no.7 pitted against another modern great, Lionel Messi. Who is better Messi or Ronaldo is a debate for the ages. However this article can help all Ronaldo faithfuls with some arsenal for their argument. You see, Ronaldo has scored more hatricks then any other player in the 21st century. While Lewadownski has 24, Luis Suarez on 29 and Messi netting 54, Cristiano Ronaldo is sitting on the staggering number of 57……..and we are going to look at every single one of them.
21 09/02/2013 Real Madrid v Sevilla La Liga
Real’s prepared for their upcoming Champions League showdown with Man United with their 4-1 win over Sevilla. Benzema opened the scoring for Real, with Ronaldo scoring the other three.
22 06/09/2013 Portugal v Northern Ireland World Cup Qualifier
A first international hat-trick against Northern Ireland allowed Portugal to go top of their World Cup qualifying group with a 4-2 win. A freekick and two headers seen Ronaldo become his countries second all time top scorer with 43 goals, just behind Pauleta on 47 and just infront of Eusébio on 41.
23 17/09/2013 Real Madrid v Galatasaray Champions League
A second half Hat-trick cemented Madrid’s biggest away victory in the Champions League. Two goals from Benzema and one from Isco consolidatde the group stage 6-1 victory for The Merengues. It was Ronaldo’s first hat-trick under new manager Carlo Ancellotti.
24 30/10/2013 Real Madrid Sevilla La Liga 7-3
In a game dominated Gareth Bale due to it being his home debut, Ronaldo stole all the headlines with another three goals. Benzema and Bale both scored two goals in this 7-3 win.
25 09/11/2013 Real Madrid v Real Sociedad La Liga
Real Sociedad were swept aside in this 5-1 demolition at the hands of Real. This reduced the gap between Barcelona and Madrid at the top to just three points. An international showdown awaited Ronaldo in a world cup play-off against a Swedish side that included Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Ibra himself had just scored a hat-trick with PSG, so football fans everywhere salivated at the thought of the tie.
26 19/11/2013 Portugal Sweden World Cup Qualifier
Portugal held an advantage heading into this fixture after winning the first leg 1-0. Ronaldo scored first before Ibra scored two goals unanswered. Ronaldo then scored two goals in very quick succession to send Portugal to the World Cup after winning 3-2. This is regarded as one of his finest games ever.
27 20/09/2014 Real Madrid v Deportivo La Coruna La Liga
Real Madrid equaled their highest recorded away victory with their 8-2 thrashing of Deportivo La Coruna. A Gareth Bale and Javier Hernandez brace complimented a stunning James Rodriguez strike.
28 23/09/2014 Real Madrid v Elche La Liga
After waiting nearly 11 months to score another hat-trick, Ronaldo scored two in three days. This time his victims were Elche. For good measure he added another goal to his tally, along with Bale to punish Elche for scoring first in the 5-1 win.
29 05/10/2014 Real Madrid v Athletic Club La Liga
Cristiano Ronaldo’s 22nd La Liga hat-trick allowed him to him to tie with Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano. It was Ronaldo’s third hat-trick in just four games. Despite personal accolades , Real Madrid sat fourth in the table after this 5-0 romp, where Karim Benzema registered two goals.
30 06/12/2014 Real Madrid v Celta Vigo La Liga
Ronaldo netted his 400th career goal in this 3-0 win over Celta Vigo. Fellow Portuguese legend Eusébio had passed away prior to the game, with his compatriot, Ronaldo, paying tribute to him by pointing to the sky in his celebrations.
