Kylian Mbappe is considered one of the leading candidates to take over world soccer once the era of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo fully comes to a close. The French forward is showing he is capable of doing so with standout performances for Real Madrid, most recently scoring a hat-trick in a 5-0 away victory over Kairat in the UEFA Champions League.

This marked Mbappe’s third career Champions League hat-trick on the road, having previously scored two with Paris Saint-Germain. The first came in a 5-0 win over Club Brugge in 2019, followed by a 4-1 triumph against Messi’s Barcelona in 2021.

By comparison, Messi and Ronaldo each registered two Champions League away hat-tricks in their careers. Messi did so with Barcelona in a 4-0 win over Viktoria Plzen in 2011 and another 4-0 victory over APOEL in 2014. Ronaldo’s came during his time with Real Madrid, first in a 4-1 win over Ajax and later in a 6-1 victory against Galatasaray, both in the 2012 campaign.

With this latest performance, Mbappe also wrote his name into Real Madrid’s history books, joining an elite list alongside Ronaldo Nazario, Karim Benzema, and Cristiano Ronaldo as the only players to score a Champions League hat-trick away from the Santiago Bernabeu.

All-time leaders in Champions League hat-tricks

The all-time leaders for hat-tricks in the UEFA Champions League, regardless of whether they were scored at home or away, are Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, each with eight hat-tricks.

Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski follows with six, achieved during his time with Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, and Barcelona. Karim Benzema rounds out the podium with four hat-tricks, all recorded while playing for Real Madrid.

Here’s the list of all-time UEFA Champions League hat-trick leaders:

  • 8 – Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
  • 8 – Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid 7, Juventus 1)
  • 6 – Robert Lewandowski (Dortmund 1, Bayern 4, Barcelona 1)
  • 4 – Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
  • 4 – Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain 2, Real Madrid 2)
  • 3 – Filippo Inzaghi (Juventus 2, Milan 1)
  • 3 – Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich)
  • 3 – Luiz Adriano (Shakhtar Donetsk)
  • 3 – Neymar (Barcelona 1, Paris Saint-Germain 2)