Cristiano Ronaldo has scored his first hat-trick in almost two and a half years, taking his extraordinary career tally to 67. But how does he compare to his eternal rival Lionel Messi when it comes to bagging three goals in a game?

The 41-year-old scored three times in Al Nassr’s 5-3 victory over Al Kholood on October 29, ending a hat-trick drought stretching back to May 2024. He’s now scored 985 career goals, just 15 away from the famous 1,000-goal milestone.

Messi, meanwhile, has scored five hat-tricks since Ronaldo’s previous treble, most recently netting four in Inter Miami’s 7-1 victory over Montreal in August.

Messi scored his first World Cup hat-trick with all three goals in Argentina’s 3-0 victory over Algeria. The first was a long-range stunner, while the third wasn’t bad either. He’s the oldest player to score a World Cup hat-trick, breaking Ronaldo’s record from 2018.

He’s scored three hat-tricks for Inter Miami and a further three hat-tricks for Argentina since completing football at the 2022 World Cup, while his old foe Ronaldo has filled his boots out in the Saudi Pro League with seven for Al-Nassr.

But what about their prime years and their era-defining rivalry? We’ve delved into the numbers.

While Ronaldo filled his boots in his first couple of seasons out in the Middle East, it’s been over two years since his last hat-trick for club or country. Messi has scored five hat-tricks since Ronaldo last did.

Messi has scored 62 career hat-tricks in total, and one more on the international stage than Ronaldo. He’s now five hat-tricks behind the 41-year-old Al-Nassr striker, and it’s not inconceivable that he surpasses him on that front when they finally hang up their boots – something that grows ever closer for the two veterans.

While Ronaldo bests Messi on most fronts overall, he does have something of a head start – over two years older, with almost 200 more career appearances under his belt. If you look at their hat-trick numbers on a per-game basis, Messi actually has the edge.

Here’s the full breakdown of their hat-trick stats:

Lionel Messi’s hat-tricks

Total career hat-tricks: 62
International hat-tricks: 11 ⭐
Club hat-tricks: 51

Four goal-hauls: 7
Five goal-hauls: 2

Champions League hat-tricks: 8
European league hat-tricks: 34
MLS hat-tricks: 3

Perfect hat-tricks (left foot, right foot, header): 0

Hat-tricks in games vs Cristiano Ronaldo: 1 ⭐

Hat-tricks in finals: 1 (2010 Supercopa de Espana – Barcelona 4-0 Sevilla)

Games per hat-trick: 19.1 ⭐
Club games per hat-trick: 19.1 ⭐
International games per hat-trick: 18.9 ⭐

Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-tricks

Total career hat-tricks: 67 ⭐
International hat-tricks: 10
Club hat-tricks: 56 ⭐

Four goal-hauls: 9 ⭐
Five goal-hauls: 2

Champions League hat-tricks: 8
European league hat-tricks: 39 ⭐
Saudi Pro League hat-tricks: 7 ⭐

Perfect hat-tricks (left foot, right foot, header): 10 ⭐

Hat-tricks in games vs Lionel Messi: 0

Hat-tricks in finals: 1 (2016 Club World Cup – Real Madrid 4-2 Kashima Antlers)