List of India national football team hat-tricks

For the women's record, see List of India women's national football team hat-tricks.

Sheoo Mewalal (some mistakenly pronounce Sahu) played for India in the 1950s.
Sheoo Mewalal, the first hat-trick scorer for India since independence

The first player ever to score a hat-trick (three or more goals in a match) for India in an international football match was R. Lumsden. He achieved the feat in an official friendly match against Australia on 24 September 1938, at the Sydney Showground, although India lost the match 4–5. This is the only instance when India have lost a game in which a player scored a hat-trick for the team. Lumsden was the only footballer to score a hat-trick for India before independence.[1][2][3] Since independence in 1947, eleven Indian players have scored a hat-trick in an international football match. No Indian player has ever scored more than three goals in a single game. The first player after independence to score a hat-trick for India was Sheoo Mewalal in a 4–0 victory over Burma in the 1952 Colombo Quadrangular Tournament.[3][4]

K. Appalaraju and Sunil Chhetri are the only Indian footballers to have scored a hat-trick more than once. Appalaraju achieved the feat twice in the two-legged tie against Ceylon during the 1964 Olympic Qualifiers. Chhetri has achieved the feat four times, the latest of which came in India's 4–0 victory over Pakistan in the opening match of the 2023 SAFF Championship.[3][5][6] This is also the most recent instance of an Indian player scoring a hat-trick in an international football match. Chhetri's first hat-trick came in the final of the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup against Tajikistan, which helped India not only to win the cup but also to qualify directly for the AFC Asian Cup in 2011, the first time in 27 years that the team reached the final tournament.[7][8][9]

Neville D'Souza was the first Asian to score a hat-trick in the history of Olympic football. He achieved the feat in a 4–2 victory over Australia at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.[10][11][12] With four goals in three matches, he not only finished the tournament as joint top-scorer but also helped India become the first Asian team to reach the semi-finals of the tournament.[13][14][15] Shabbir Ali scored the fastest hat-trick for the national team.[16][17] He achieved the feat in a 3−1 victory over Indonesia on 16 August 1976, at the 1976 Merdeka Tournament. His goals came at the 7th, 33rd and 35th minutes of the match.[18]

As of 29 March 2021, India have conceded nineteen hat-tricks, the most recent being scored by Ali Mabkhout in a 0–6 defeat by the United Arab Emirates in a friendly match.[19][20] Branko Zebec was the first player to score a hat-trick against India, scoring four times for Yugoslavia in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.[21] Two other players, Bader Al-Mutawa of Kuwait in a friendly fixture and Ismail Abdullatif of Bahrain in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup, have also scored four goals against India.[22][23][24] The only instance of India not losing a game even after conceding a hat-trick occurred against Yemen in a 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification match on 4 May 2001, which ended in a 3–3 draw.[25]

  1. ^ Stock, Greg; Esamie, Thomas; Punshon, John. "Socceroo Internationals for 1938". ozfootball.net. Archived from the original on 6 August 2018. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  2. ^ "Matches 1938". FIFA. Archived from the original on 24 September 2018. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  3. ^ a b c Dey, Subrata. "India – Record International Players". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference sahuhattrick was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference chhetrihattrick4AIFF was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference chhetrihattrick4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Chhetri 3 goals against Tajik was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference India wins AFC Challenge cup was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "India wins AFC Challenge Cup Final over Tajikistan". News18. Reuters. 14 August 2008. Archived from the original on 8 July 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference hattricknevilleFIFA was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference hattricknevilleNovy was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Marar, Nandakumar (3 September 2000). "Recalling Neville's extraordinary exploits in Olympic football". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 9 August 2010. Retrieved 23 July 2018.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  13. ^ Roy, Gautam (1 December 2016). "60 years ago today, India's Melbourne magic created history". ESPN. Archived from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  14. ^ "Statistics". FIFA. Archived from the original on 24 July 2018. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  15. ^ "Final Tournament Standings". FIFA. Archived from the original on 23 July 2018. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference fastest hat-trick was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ Das, Rudra Narayan (29 November 2011). "Player Biography : Shabbir Ali – Only Footballer To Win Dhyan Chand Award". Indian Football Network. Archived from the original on 23 August 2012. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference Sabbir Ali hat-trick was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference AliMabkhouthattrickAIFF was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference MabkhouthattrickTheHindu was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference zebechattrickFIFA was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  22. ^ Cite error: The named reference baderhattrick was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference abdullatifhattricktelegraph was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  24. ^ Cite error: The named reference abdullatifhattrickgoaldotcom was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  25. ^ Cite error: The named reference yemenhattrick2001 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).