Five players to have scored most hat-tricks in the 21st century

Kolkata, March 23: We have been blessed to witness a great number of top forwards gracing the game in the 21st century. While scoring each goal is special, scoring hat-tricks is much more memorable.

Here, we look at five players to have scored the most number of hat-tricks in this century in the descending order.

Mario Gomez (18 hat-tricks, 510 games)

Former German international Gomez used to be a prolific goalscorer for both club and country and he gave his best in Bayern Munich and VFB Stuttgart colours. There was a time when he was regarded as one of the best strikers in the planet.

Robert Lewandowski (24 hat-tricks, 626 games)

The former Borussia Dortmund has been scoring in plenty for Bayern Munich season after season and he is ageing like a fine wine. The 32-year-old was perhaps unfortunate to see the Ballon d'Or award ceremony cancelled last year as he was the favourite.

Luis Suarez (29 hat-tricks, 688 games)

Suarez came under severe criticism at Barcelona, but the Uruguayan superstar has shown that he still has the quality to be regarded among the best players in his position following his move to Atletico Madrid. When on form, the former Liverpool superstar is close to unstoppable and his tally of 29 hat-tricks speaks for it.

Lionel Messi (54 hat-tricks, 908 games)

One of the greatest footballers to have graced the game, Messi's name in this list is hardly a surprise. The Argentinian superstar hardly has a bad day in office. He is still only 33 and will no doubt continue to add to his tally as time progresses and may well take up the top spot in the future.

Cristiano Ronaldo (57 hat-tricks, 1022 games)

Messi and Ronaldo have almost every record in world football between themselves and it is the latter who has an edge over his biggest rival. The 36-year-old tops the list with 57 hat-tricks, a number that is staggering for a player who mostly featured on the flanks.