List of Croatia national football team hat-tricks
Since the inception of international association football matches in 1872, seven Croatian footballers have scored three or more goals (a hat-trick) in a game. The first player to score a hat-trick for Croatia was August Lešnik in a friendly match against Slovakia in 1942. Davor Šuker was the first player in modern Croatian national team history to achieve this feat, scoring three times in a 7–1 victory over Estonia in 1995. He is also the only player who scored a hat-trick more than once, grabbing his second hat-trick in Croatia's biggest win 7–0 against Australia. Mladen Petrić has scored the greatest number of goals in one game, netting four times against Andorra.[1]
The most recent hat-trick was scored by Eduardo da Silva in Croatia's 4–3 victory over Israel in the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign.[2]
Croatia have conceded four hat-tricks since 1941, the most recent being scored by Theo Walcott in a 4–1 defeat by England in the qualifications for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The other three hat-tricks were scored by Ján Arpáš, Primož Gliha and Zlatan Muslimović.
Hat-tricks for Croatia
| Player | Opponent | Venue | Competition | Result[a] | Date | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lešnik, AugustAugust Lešnik |  Slovakia |
Concordia, Zagreb | Friendly | 6–1 |
6 September 1942 | |
| Wölfl, FranjoFranjo Wölfl | Slovakia |
Concordia, Zagreb | Friendly | 7–3 |
9 April 1944 | HNS-CFF.hr |
| Šuker, DavorDavor Šuker |  Estonia |
Maksimir, Zagreb | 1996 UEFA Euro qualifying | 7–1 |
3 September 1995 | HNS-CFF.hr |
| Vlaović, GoranGoran Vlaović |  South Korea |
Kranjčevićeva, Zagreb | Friendly | 3–0 |
13 March 1996 | HNS-CFF.hr |
| Šuker, DavorDavor Šuker |  Australia |
Maksimir, Zagreb | Friendly | 7–0 |
8 August 1998 | HNS-CFF.hr |
| Balaban, BoškoBoško Balaban |  Latvia |
Gradski vrt, Osijek | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifying | 4–1 |
24 March 2001 | HNS-CFF.hr |
| Petrić, MladenMladen Petrić |  Andorra |
Maksimir, Zagreb | 2008 UEFA Euro qualifying | 7–0 |
7 October 2006 | HNS-CFF.hr |
| da Silva, EduardoEduardo da Silva |  Israel |
Ramat Gan, Ramat Gan | 2008 UEFA Euro qualifying | 4–3 |
15 November 2006 | HNS-CFF.hr |
Hat-tricks conceded by Croatia
| Player | Opponent | Venue | Competition | Result[a] | Date | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arpáš, JánJán Arpáš | Slovakia |
Concordia, Zagreb | Friendly | 7–3 |
9 April 1944 | |
| Gliha, PrimožPrimož Gliha |  Slovenia |
Poljud, Split | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifying | 3–3 |
2 April 1997 | Sportnet.hr |
| Muslimović, ZlatanZlatan Muslimović |  Bosnia and Herzegovina |
Asim Ferhatović, Sarajevo | Friendly | 5–3 |
22 August 2007 | Sportnet.hr |
| Walcott, TheoTheo Walcott |  England |
Maksimir, Zagreb | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying | 1–4 |
10 September 2008 | Sportnet.hr |
Notes
a The result is presented with Croatia's score first.
References
- ↑ Krušelj, Dražen (5 September 2010). "Nitko od mene ništa nije očekivao, pa sam mogao opušteno igrati". Jutarnji.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 1 April 2011.
- ↑ Jurišić, Bernard (15 November 2006). "Izrael - Hrvatska: Puno bolji od konačnog rezultata". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 1 April 2011.
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