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.
41 12/04/2016 Real Madrid v Wolfsburg Champions League
The force of nature Ronaldo helped Real Madrid overturn a two goal deficit at the Santiago Bernabeu. Wolfsburg were left reeling after two early quickfire goals from Ronaldo in the space of 86 seconds. Ronaldo finished the scoring on the 77th and with that a semi final clash with Barcelona awaited them. After the game when asked about Ronaldo manager Zinedine Zidane said “”He is special”.
42 07/10/2016 Portugal v Andorra World Cup Qualifier
Six Goals for the European Champions against nine men Andorra. Only the four for Ronaldo, what can you say? I’m surprised it was not more to be honest. Joao Cancelo and Andre Silva got a goal each in this unmerciful thrashing of the small nation.
43 29/10/2016 Real Madrid v Deportivo Alaves La Liga
This was the 20th different team that Ronaldo scored a hat-trick against for Real Madrid. Knowing him though, he probably was not happy coming off the pitch. Why? Well he also missed a penalty, and despite Madrid going top of the league, this would of no doubt annoyed the man.
44 19/11/2016 Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid La Liga
For the second time in his career, Cristiano Ronaldo scored three in El Derbi Madrileño. This helped Madrid create a nine point gap in La Liga between them and Atletico and stretched their undefeated streak to 29 games.
45 18/12/2016 Real Madrid v Kashima Antlers World Club Cup
Japanese side Kashima gave Real a scare in the Club World Cup Final, and forced the game into extra time at 2-2. Here Balon D’or winner Ronaldo shined with two goals in the final 30. In normal time it was both Ronaldo and Benzema who scored for Los Blancos. Winning the trophy meant that Madrid were now on a 37 game undefeated run in all competitions.
46 18/04/2017 Real Madrid v Bayern Munich Champions League
Once again extra time was needed for Ronaldo to secure his hat-trick. After a 2-1 victory away from home, Bayern valiantly fought back to bring the game passed 90 minutes. However in controversial fashion Madrid were awarded a penalty which Ronaldo slotted home to become the first man to score 100 Champions League goals. Asensio rounded off the result and helped Madrid seal a 6-3 aggregate victory.
47 02/05/2017 Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid Champions League
For the third time in his illustrious career the man from Madeira, Portugal slotted three passed an Atletico Madrid goalkeeper. Madrid would go onto lose the second leg, but it did not matter as due to Ronaldo’s goal scoring exploits in this tie, Real made their way to another Champions League final. Juventus stood in the way of a record 10th European cup, however they could stop the mighty Madrid from becoming the first team to successfully defend their title in the Champions League era.
48 31/08/2017 Portugal v Faroe Islands World Cup Qualifier
The poor Faroe Islands were the next team to suffer a trifecta of goals from the feet of Ronaldo. A stunning scissor-kick for the talisman three minutes in set the tone for the rest of the game. Ronaldo scored another two which brought his tally to 14 goals in his last six World Cup Qualifying matches.
49 10/02/2018 Real Madrid v Real Sociedad La Liga 5-2
Ronaldo’s second last La Liga hat-trick came in November 2011, which meant this one was 15 months in the making. He has always done well historically against Sociedad in the Bernabeu having scored 15 goals in seven games. Goals from Lucas Vázquez and Toni Kroos helped secure a 5-2 victory
50 18/03/2018 Real Madrid v Girona La Liga
This nine goal thriller would be the last time the Madrid Legend would score a hat-trick in-front of his adoring fans. How fitting it would be his 50th time he did so. In the end he came away with four goals with Bale and Vázquez providing the other two. It would of being hard for the passionate Madridistas to appreciate at the time, that this would be the last time they would witness him do this in the iconic white of Madrid.