England beat Switzerland 5-3 in penalties in the UEFA Euro 2024 quarter-final at Dusseldorf to book their spot in the Semi-Final. Embolo's strike in the 75th minute provided Switzerland with the lead but Bukayo Saka scored a magical goal in the 80th minute to bring his side back in the game. The match ultimately went into penalties and England made no mistake as they converted all five spot kicks. Pickford became the saviour by saving Akanji's spot kick and England will now either face Netherlands or Turkey in the semi-final.

Read Also: Netherlands vs Turkey UEFA Euro 2024 Quarter-Final Live Updates | Winner will play England in semis

England vs Switzerland: A brief highlight of the game

England booked their place in the semi-finals following a 5-3 penalty shootout win over Switzerland. All of England’s penalty-takers converted their kicks perfectly, especially Alexander-Arnold, who scored the winner with a powerful shot into the top corner.

The first half finished goalless but England were seen playing good football for the first time in the Euro 2024. But, there was no end product from the English side. Switzerland made a strong comeback in the second half and took the lead through Breel Embolo in the 75th minute. 

But, England came back into the game through Bukayo Saka just five minutes later after conceding. Saka made some space for himself on the right and then unleashed a perfect low curler which ended up in the back of the net. Sommer could do nothing to stop it from going in. The match went to extra time but none of the teams were able to score and it ultimately went to the penalties.

England won their first Euro penalty shootout since 1996 against Spain. Switzerland pulled off a big upset in the round of 16 when they knocked out holders Italy but their journey at Euro 2024 ends in the quarterfinals.

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Cristiano Ronaldo might be playing in Saudi Arabia these days, but he's still racking up records in Portuguese colours. Among male footballers, Ronaldo holds the record for most international goals of all time, as part of his enduring pursuit of titles and records. The 40-year-old also has most international appearances in the history of men's football after playing his 200th game for Portugal in June 2023. 

In this article, we'll look at the active football players with the most international goals.

Also Read: Messi vs Ronaldo: Who has scored the most non-penalty goals?

Most International Goals by Active Players (2025)

10. Edin Dzeko | 68 goals

Edin Dzeko is one of the most underrated strikers of his generation. The Inter Milan marksman is 39 years old but is still going strong. He has won the 'Bosnian Footballer of the Year' award three successive times in his career.

Dzeko has been quite prolific for his national team. He has scored 68 goals and provided 21 assists in his international career so far.

9. Harry Kane | 73 goals

Captain Harry Kane became the first player to score two goals on his 100th appearance for England. The striker scored his 67th and 68th international goals in the second half of the Nations League at Wembley over Finland, thundering an excellent strike in off the underside of the bar, then curling in a neat finish.

He also became just the third player to score on his 100th England appearance, after Wayne Rooney (versus Slovenia in 2014) and Bobby Charlton (against Northern Ireland in 1970).

Before kick-off, Kane was presented with a golden cap to mark the achievement, and also wore golden boots during the match.

8. Luis Suarez | 69 goals

Uruguay international Luis Suarez has had an illustrious career. He won the European Golden Shoe twice in the last decade and is widely regarded as one of the best centre-forwards of the 21st century.

Suarez, who recently led Uruguay to World Cup qualification, has scored 68 goals in his international career.

7. Neymar | 79 goals

Neymar Jr. is one of the most talented footballers we have seen in the 21st century. He is a joy to watch on the football pitch and is capable of producing moments of magic on a regular basis.

Neymar is one of the most innovative forwards of the modern era. He has been absolutely phenomenal for Brazil and is now surpassed Pele's goalscoring record for Brazil (77). Neymar has scored 79 goals and for the Brazilian national team so far in his career.

6. Robert Lewandowski | 85 goals

Robert Lewandowski is currently the most prolific goalscorer in Europe's top five leagues. The Bayern Munich striker has played some of the best football of his career in recent seasons.

Lewandowski has been a cut above the rest of his national teammates throughout his career. He has been a standout performer for Poland in recent years. The 36-year-old has scored 85 goals for Poland in international football.

Also Read: Top 12 players with most hat-tricks in football in the 21st century

5. Ali Mabkhout | 85 goals

Al Jazira and UAE legend Ali Mabkhout is a clinical finisher and as well as being one of his club's best scorers. However, he is also the United Arab Emirates' top international scorer of all time. He has a total of 85 international goals to his name. 

During the 2019 AFC Asian Cup quarter-finals, Mabkhout netted the only goal in a 1–0 victory over defending champions Australia, which helped his country qualify for the semi-finals. Mabkhout scored a hat-trick against Indonesia in a 5–0 win in 2019 to become UAE's all-time leading goalscorer.

4. Romelu Lukaku | 89 goals

Romelu Lukaku has been a beast in attack for Belgium's golden generation. He has consistently produced the goods for his star-studded national team and continues to do so.

Lukaku's form at club level may have fluctuated but he has maintained high standards in international football. The 32-year-old has scored 89 goals in his international career so far.

3. Sunil Chhetri | 95 goals

Sunil Chhetri is regarded as one of the best football players India has ever produced. In a career spanning over two decades, the centre-forward has won many individual as well as team accolades.

With 95 goals to his name in 154 international appearances, Chhetri is the third highest goal-scorer in international matches, only behind Portuguese ace Cristiano Ronaldo, and Lionel Messi of Argentina.

Also Read: Every Indian Team Football Coach Since 1948

Since Sunil Chhetri’s first senior professional goal for Mohun Bagan in the National Football League season (2002-03), the Indian football great has notched up many goal-scoring feats for both club and country.

2. Lionel Messi | 112 goals 

Lionel Messi, widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers, has had a remarkable international career with Argentina. Messi, with 112 international goals, ranks second on the all-time top goal-scorers list, trailing only Ronaldo. Since his debut in 2005, Messi has earned 189 caps, leading Argentina to victories in the Copa America and the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Argentina and Inter Miami star Lionel Messi can still catch Ronaldo for the record, if he plays on through to the 2026 World Cup and perhaps beyond.

1. Cristiano Ronaldo | 138 goals

Cristiano Ronaldo holds the world record for international goals, scoring 138 for Portugal since making his debut in 2003. He is also the all-time leading appearance-maker in men's international football, having played 221 games, eclipsing the previous record of 196 held by Kuwait's Bader Al-Mutawa against Liechtenstein on 23 March 2023, and marking the occasion with two goals. He has hit ten international hat-tricks, a record he shares with Lionel Messi.

Also Read: Every Manchester United records that may never be broken

Ronaldo broke the world record for international goals when he scored twice against the Republic of Ireland in Portugal's European Qualifier in Faro-Loulé on 1 September 2021, aged 36. He surpassed the existing world-record mark set by former Iran forward Ali Daei, the first man to claim a century of international goals. Lionel Messi joined the elite group on 28 March 2023.

Hat tricks are one of the toughest and most exciting things in football. To score thrice in a single match is not only hard but also one of the rarest things as well. However, some players have made it look so easy.

Today, in this article, we will talk about the top ten players with most hat tricks in football in the 21st century.

But before that, let me answer the question that you have in your mind. I know that you want to know who has scored the most hat-tricks in football history.

Who has scored the most hat-tricks in football history?

Now that's a very tricky question to answer because there is a lack of proof with the data of football score lines from the past.

As per Guinness World Records, the Brazilian legend Pele has scored the most hat-tricks in football history. The former striker scored as many as 92 hat tricks in his career, with seven of them being for Brazil. However, since Pele never played in Europe, there is no exact data or proof to support the answer. Most of Pele's hat-tricks came in unofficial and friendlies as well.

Top 12 players with most hat-tricks in football in the 21st century

Now, to list the top ten players with most hat tricks in football in the 21st century, there will be no confusion, because we have the proof and the data to support our list. This data not only validates but also proves why keeping the record of every football stat is important.

With this list, you will know how the 21st century has been dominated by two of the greatest footballers in history.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have scored twice as many hat tricks as the 3rd player on the list has achieved.

Here is the full list of the top 12 players with most hat-tricks in football in the 21st century.

12. Sergio Aguero | 18 hat-tricks

The former Manchester City and Argentina legend is one of the greatest strikers of this century. Sergio Aguero finished his career as one of the highest scorers in Premier League history with 180 goals for Manchester City in the league.

With 18 hat tricks to his name, including his club and international career, Aguero is the player with the 12th most hat-tricks in the 21st century.

Not surprisingly, twelve of his 18 hat tricks came for Manchester City, most in the Premier League. However, Aguero only scored one hat-trick for Argentina in his international career.

The former striker scored more than four goals three times in his career, all in the Premier League. 

11. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar | 18

Now, this name can come as a surprise to many Gen-Z football followers. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, the former Dutch and Ajax centre-forward, scored 18 hat-tricks in his stunning football career.

Although three of his 18 hat-tricks came in the second division of the Dutch League, they are considered official hat-tricks.

Huntelaar scored seven hat-tricks for Ajax and eight for German club FC Schalke. He could only score one international hat-trick for the Netherlands.

Huntelaar scored 366 goals in his career and also featured for clubs like Real Madrid and AC Milan.

Read Also | European treble winners in men's football history

#10. Mario Gomez | 18

The former German striker is one of the most underrated players of his generation. Over his entire career, Mario Gomez scored 333 goals in 610 games for teams like FC Bayern Munich, VfB Stuttgart and Fiorentina.

The one-time Champions League and three-time Bundesliga winner scored 18 hat-tricks in his career.

12 of his hat-tricks came for FC Bayern Munich, while four came for Stuttgart and one each for Wolfsburg and Germany.

#9. Zlatan Ibrahimovic | 20

One of the most acrobatic and threatening strikers of the modern era, Zlatan Ibrahimovic is one of the highest scorers of the 21st century.

The Swedish legend is perhaps one of the greatest players to never win the UEFA Champions League despite playing for teams like FC Barcelona, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Manchester United, PSG and Juventus.

Read Also | Players with most Champions League finals without winning it ever

Zlatan scored 20 hat-tricks in his career, among which half were for PSG. He scored four hat-tricks for his country, Sweden.

#8 Neymar | 21

The Brazilian modern-day great, Neymar, is one of the most loved and eye-catching footballers of the 21st century. Neymar is Brazil's highest goal scorer ever, with 79 goals in 120 matches.

The attacking midfielder made his name with Brazilian club Santos and then went on to conquer Europe with FC Barcelona and PSG before joining Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia.

Four of his 21 hat tricks came for Brazil, which is the second most for the five-time world champion nation. He scored four hat tricks each for FC Barcelona and PSG, while scoring eight hat tricks for his home club, Santos. 

#7 Kylian Mbappe | 22

Now here comes the new generation superstar. Kylian Mbappe has already broken multiple football records in his short career for AS Monaco, PSG, Real Madrid and France.

One of the youngest goal scorers in FIFA World Cup history and one of the youngest ever to score in a World Cup final, Kylian Mbappe is indeed made for greatness.

Read Also | Most Valuable Football Players In 2025: Who is Worth the Big Bucks?

Mbappe has already scored 22 hat-tricks in his career, which include one in the famous FIFA World Cup 2022 final as well. The youngster, who is often compared with Cristiano Ronaldo, has scored 14 hat-tricks for PSG and three for France. The rest came for AS Monaco (2) and Real Madrid (3).

#6 Erling Haaland | 25

Norwegian Erling Haaland is a beast when it comes to scoring goals within the 'D box'. He would always see him at the right place at the right time, scoring some great acrobatic goals.

Haaland rose to fame with German club Borussia Dortmund and then unleashed his absolute best for Premier League club Manchester City. In his first season in the Premier League, he broke the record for the most goals in a season in the tournament (36).

In 329 matches, he has scored 24 hat-tricks and can only get better from here on. 11 of his hat-tricks came for Manchester City, among which 8 came in the Premier League, in only two seasons. 

Read Also | Football facts: Son-father footballer duo to play for national teams

#5 Harry Kane | 27

Harry Kane is the only English player on our list of the top 12 players with most hat tricks in football in 21st century. With 27 hat tricks in his career till now, Harry Kane is fifth on our list currently.

Read Also | Harry Kane becomes the fastest footballer to score 50 Bundesliga goals

The Tottenham Hotspur legend, who left Premier League with the second most goals in the competition's history, is now breaking records in the Bundesliga as well.

Kane scored 14 hat-tricks for Spurs and has already scored 8 hat-tricks for FC Bayern Munich in just two seasons.

Read Also | Last 10 European Golden Shoe winners List

#4 Luis Suarez | 30

Uruguayan legend Luis Suarez, who dominated European football first for Ajax and Liverpool and then for FC Barcelona, creating the famous M-S-N trio with Lionel Messi and Neymar, scored 30 hat-tricks in his career.

Suarez is currently playing for Inter Miami and has scored 505 goals so far in his career, among which 69 came for Uruguay. 

Twelve of his total 30 career hat-tricks came for FC Barcelona and 9 for Ajax during his early days.

Read Also | MSN vs BBC: Rivalry of football's greatest trio in stats

#3 Robert Lewandowski | 34

If we do not count Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, Robert Lewandowski of Poland has been the greatest footballer of this generation. It is harsh that he always gets compared to those two and has not recieve the appreciation he should get.

He was even unlucky not to win the 2020 Ballon d'Or, which was cancelled due to COVID-19. Apart from Messi and Cristiano, he is the only player to score over 100 Champions League goals.

Read Also | Highest scoring footballers of the 21st century

Lewandowski scored 34 hat-tricks in his career so far, and 20 of them came for FC Bayern Munich, where he won 8 Bundesliga and one Champions League titles. With 6 UCL hat-tricks, he is the player with the second most hat-tricks in the competition's history, only behind Lionel Messi. 

#2 Lionel Messi | 59

Now you will have to bear with me a bit because the list will get bigger.

Lionel Messi, who has won the most trophies in football history, won the most Ballon d'Or awards, scored the second most four or more goals in football (8), and also has the record for most goal contributions in football history, scoring 59 hat-tricks in his career so far.

Messi also has the record of scoring the most La Liga (36) hat-tricks, which is more than other player's whole career.

The Argentine has scored 48 hat-tricks for FC Barcelona, which is also a record. Messi till now has scored 10 international hat-tricks, the most for Argentina and joint-most in international football history.

Moreover, out of Messi's 59 hat-tricks, only 12 included a penalty, which makes him the player with the most non-penalty hat-tricks as well. 

#1 Cristiano Ronaldo | 66

Here comes the greatest goal scorer in football history, Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese legend has scored the most hat-tricks in football in the 21st century. And, if you do not count the unverified record for Pele, he has the most hat-tricks in football history.

Most goals in club history, most goals in international football, most Champions League goals, joint-most Champions League hat-tricks (10), most league hat-tricks (45) - these are a few of the records set by the former Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus star.

Ronaldo, till now, has scored 66 career hat-tricks, among which 44 came for Real Madrid, a record for the Los Blancos. Moreover, he has scored four or more goals in a game a record 11 times, scoring 4 goals in a game nine times and 5 goals twice.

However, compared with Lionel Messi, 29 of Ronaldo's 66 career hat-tricks included a penalty.

Some players are famous for scoring goals, while some are famous for creating. However, sometimes football teams are blessed with such players who can do both things.

There are players with incredible goal-scoring skills as well as creative skills, and these players are rare. They bring so much value to the team that they become irreplaceable. In this article, we look at the players who have had the most goal contributions since 2001.

Keep in mind that this stat is made from the Top 5 Leagues in Europe and National & International competitions. 

Read Also: Players With the Most Assists In Football History

Players with the most goal contributions (2001-2010)

Two decades earlier than the present, the table looks well shuffled with no names popping off more than twice. However, little did we know that the 2009 season was just the start of the little magician's dominance in world football.

His impact on Pep Guardiola's Barcelona team was simply incomparable.

Thierry Henry is the only other player besides Messi who managed to be the top contributor twice in consecutive seasons. He was part of the golden generation of Arsenal, who won the Premier League title undefeated.

Read Also | Highest scoring footballers of the 21st century

Players with the most goal contributions (2011-2023)

Clearly, in the two charts, Lionel Messi is simply the most dominant player in the world.

He has appeared a record 9 times in the list, more than any player during this time period. However, Luis Suarez was the only player who sneaked into the table during the prime time of Messi and Ronaldo.

Read Also | Top 10 players with the Most goals in a single season

Lionel Messi's 2012 season still remains a record for the most goals scored in a calendar year (91). Erling Haaland had a fantastic 2022-23 season with Manchester City as he won the European treble and scored 52 goals.

In 2024, Harry Kane's transfer to FC Bayern Munich came in handy for him as he finished with 56 goal contributions in that season. The 2024-25 season saw Raphinha emerge at the top of the list with 59 goal contributions for FC Barcelona and Brazil. 

Real Madrid and England star midfielder Jude Bellingham has finally decided to undergo the shoulder surgery, which he injured in 2023. Jude had suffered the injury during his first season for the Los Blancos against Rayo Vallecano on November 5, 2023.

The  21-year-old star will go for surgery today and is all set to miss twelve weeks after shoulder surgery in London. He will return to action in mid-October, following the completion of his rehabilitation process.

Jude has been suffering from the pain for 2 years now. After dislocating the shoulder against Rayo Vallecano, Jude did not want to go for the surgery right away and decided to play with the pain. He started wearing a shoulder brace, which gave the shoulder a bit of solidity. Jude then went on to have a great 2023-24 season in which he won the  La Liga, the Champions League, and the Spanish Super Cup with Real Madrid.

With time, although Jude's pain became a bit less, the shoulder brace started to frustrate him a bit. Due to wearing the shoulder brace for a long time, he was "losing a lot of weight from sweating so much". Not only that, he also mentioned that his "patience is running out" with all the limitations the brace was forcing on him.

So, eventually, after two years, Jude decided to let go of the problem and do the surgery. 

Read Also | Who is Olivia Smith? Arsenal are ready to pay the most expensive transfer fee for her

An arthroscopic shoulder surgery will be done on Bellingham, and the full process of recovery can take more than three months. However, Fernando Ramos of the Spanish Association of Physiotherapists feels that players with similar injuries generally require four months to return to training, with competitive play resuming potentially five to six months post-surgery.

Read Also | Top 10 Best Attacking Trios in football in 2025

During his rehabilitation process, Jude will miss eight LaLiga matches and the beginning of the Champions League group stage for Real Madrid under new manager Xabi Alonso. Not only that, he will also miss England's World Cup qualifying fixtures against Andorra and Serbia in September 2025.

At just 3.02 runs per over, an unlikely England under captain Ben Stokes and coach Brandon McCullum were seen on Day 1 of India vs England 3rd Test at Lord's. Even Shubman Gill's taunting "boring Test cricket" comment could not bring the BazBall of the England cricket team.

England finished Day 1 with 251/4 as Joe Root remained on 99 along with a struggling yet effective Ben Stokes on 39 from 102 balls at the other end. 

Indian bowlers did pretty well to restrict English batters and bowled with discipline, except for Akash Deep, who went for 4.41 runs per over on Day 1.

Key Moments and Highlights of Day 1 of India vs England 3rd Test

After the defeat at Edgbaston, England wanted a pitch that had "something in it." However, it did not look like that on Day 1. The pitch looked dry and slow, which might favour India as every day progresses. 

Ben Stokes won the toss and decided to bat first, which is very unlikely of them as they always want to chase scores in the fourth innings. But, with the dry and slow pitch in action, it might be good to bat in the third inning, rather than batting in the last inning. 

Indian opening bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep did well, and it did not look like Akash Deep, who was coming from a historical 10-wicket haul, had any issues with the slope of Lord's. Oh, did I forget to mention that India had one change from Edgbaston - Jasprit Bumrah in place of Prasidh Krishna. 

Read Also | Joe Root vs Sachin Tendulkar – Test Stats Compared: Can Root break Sachin's record

Nitish Kumar Reddy provided the early wickets for India

Despite a good start and a long spell from Bumrah, India had to wait till Nitish Kumar Reddy came into the bowling and struck twice in his first over to remove both the English openers. Ben Duckett (23) would consider himself unlucky to be caught down the leg side, while Zack Crawley (18) got a "spitting cobra" delivery from Reddy. 

Ollie Pope would have been out first ball if Shubman Gill had caught a tough chance in the gully. But, from then on, the signals were in. The edges were not reaching the slips, and Gill once had to come so close that he wore a helmet. 

The first session ended with England being on 83/2 after 25 overs.

Nitish Kumar Reddy with a double wicket over for India! pic.twitter.com/3bMnMgqRHd

— Sportz Point (@sportz_point) July 10, 2025

England won the second session

Though Pope struggled to get going, on the other end, Joe Root was Joe Root - buying runs ball by ball, playing the way he does. Gill tried to break the partnership between Pope and Root with Bumrah in action, but that did not happen.

Meanwhile, India suffered a setback as Rishabh Pant got injured while grabbing a ball from Bumrah and had to be replaced by substitute keeper Dhruv Jurel. 

The second session saw 70 runs without losing any wickets. 

Read Also | Most Hundreds in Test cricket among active players

Bumrah and Jadeja provided breakthroughs for India

For India, the breakthrough finally came in the first over of the third season as Ravindra Jadeja produced an outside of Pope (44) and Jurel caught it beautifully to get England's third. Pope and Root had a 109-run partnership, which balanced the first session of the day.

Soon, Bumrah was called into action, and he rattled the stumps of Harry Brook, and everyone thought that Gill and company would have the doors open for a collapse. 

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐉𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐁𝐮𝐦𝐫𝐚𝐡 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 \|/

Jasprit Bumrah cleaned up Harry Brook's stumps for England's fourth wicket of the first inning. #JaspritBumrah #HarryBrook #ENGvsIND pic.twitter.com/PnV9dkswrv

— Sportz Point (@sportz_point) July 10, 2025

Stokes plays through pain; Root closer to another ton

However, captain Ben Stokes, who has not scored a test century in the last two years, played an uncharacteristic inning to build an unbeaten 79-run partnership with Root. 

Nitish Kumar Reddy nearly had Stokes out, but the DRS showed that India had to be satisfied with the Umpire's call, which was not out. Root meantime looked flawless against pace and spin.

In the final hour of the day, Stokes struggled with a groin injury and could not run, which stopped the flow of the run as well. With Joe Root on 99, and looking for his 37th test ton and 8th at Lord's, we are set for a big day tomorrow. 

Day 1 score summary