List of Wales national football team hat-tricks on:
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Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
played their first international association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
match on 25 March 1876 against Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...
. As of September 2021, fifteen Welsh international players have scored a hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three.
Origin
The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three w ...
(three goals) or more in a game. The first player to achieve the feat was John Price who scored four goals against Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...
on 25 February 1882. Other than Price, three other players have scored four goals during a match, Jack Doughty against Ireland in 1888, Mel Charles against Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...
in 1962 and Ian Edwards against Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
in 1978.
Wales' first five hat-tricks were all scored against the same opposition, Ireland, before Trevor Ford
Trevor Ford (1 October 1923 – 29 May 2003) was a Welsh professional footballer who played as a centre forward for Swansea Town, Aston Villa, Sunderland, Cardiff City, PSV, Newport County and Romford, as well as for the Wales national team ...
scored three times against Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...
on 23 November 1949, also becoming the first Welsh player to score a hat-trick against a team not from the home nations
Home Nations is a collective term with one of two meanings depending on context. Politically it means the nations of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales). In sport, if a sport is g ...
. As of September 2021 the most recent player to score a hat-trick for Wales was Gareth Bale
Gareth Frank Bale (born 16 July 1989) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a winger for Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC and the Wales national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wingers of his generation ...
, in a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualificationAlso the "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Qualifiers". was the qualifying process which decided the 31 teams that would join hosts Qatar, who received an automatic spot, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Parallel tourn ...
match against Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...
on 5 September 2021.
Wales have conceded 26 hat-tricks during their history, the first being scored by Clement Mitchell
Clement Mitchell (20 February 1862 – 6 October 1937) was an English sportsman who represented the England national football team and played first-class cricket for Kent County Cricket Club.
Mitchell was born at Cambridge in 1862 and was edu ...
in a friendly match on 3 February 1883 against England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
. The first player to score a hat-trick against Wales from outside the home nations was Rajko Mitić for Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...
on 21 May 1953. Seven players have scored more than three goals in a single match against Wales, Joe Bambrick
Joseph Gardiner Absolom Bambrick (3 November 1905 – 13 October 1983) was a Northern Irish footballer who played for Chelsea, Walsall, Glentoran, and Linfield.
A former gas worker of medium build, he was a prolific goalscorer in the Irish L ...
's six goals for Ireland during a 1929–30 British Home Championship match is the most goals scored by a player against Wales in a single match. Filippo Inzaghi
Filippo "Pippo" Inzaghi (; born 9 August 1973) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who played as a striker. He was nicknamed "Superpippo" or "Alta tensione" by fans and commentators during his playing career. He is ...
of Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
is the most recent player to score a hat-trick against Wales, in a UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
Qualification for the 2004 UEFA European Championship took place between September 2002 and November 2003.
Fifty teams were divided into ten groups, with each team playing the others in their group twice, once at home and once away. The top te ...
match on 6 September 2003.
Hat-tricks for Wales
;Key ;Table Wartime internationals, not regarded as official matches, are not included in the list. The result is presented with Wales' score first.Hat-tricks conceded by Wales
Wartime internationals, not regarded as official matches, are not included in the list. The result is presented with Wales' score first.Notes
Some sources attribute a hat-trick toAlex Smith
Alexander Douglas Smith (born May 7, 1984) is an American former quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. He played college football at Utah, where he received first-team All-American honors and won the ...
during a 5–1 victory for Scotland on 15 March 1902. However, others, including the Scottish Football Association
The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility f ...
, attribute two of his goals to other Scottish players.
References
{{featured listHat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three.
Origin
The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three w ...
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
Association football player non-biographical articles