“Another wonderful night.” That’s how Lionel Messi named Inter Miami’s match against New England Revolution on his social media after delivering a masterclass performance, capped by a hat-trick. With Saturday’s display, Messi achieved a feat that Cristiano Ronaldo has yet to accomplish in his storied career.
Messi scoring hat-tricks is far from unusual for the soccer icon—just four days ago, he notched three goals in Argentina’s match against Bolivia. However, what made this performance particularly remarkable was how he achieved it: Messi didn’t start the game in Inter Miami coach Gerardo Martino’s lineup.
Entering the match as a substitute in the 57th minute for Julian Gressel, Messi scored his hat-trick within just 31 minutes. This marked the second time in his career that he has recorded a hat-trick as a substitute. The first instance came during the 2016 Copa América group stage when he replaced Augusto Fernandez and netted three goals in just 29 minutes against Panama.
So far, Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 66 hat-tricks throughout his illustrious career, but none of them have come as a substitute—something Messi has now done twice. While Ronaldo is typically a starter for his teams, reducing his chances to match Messi’s feat, he still has opportunities to achieve it while coming off the bench for Portugal.
Ronaldo’s hat-trick feat Messi has yet to achieve
On the other hand, Ronaldo achieved a unique milestone earlier this year, one that only one other player has matched—and it’s not Messi. The Portuguese star completed a hat-trick where all three goals were scored from outside the box: two from free kicks and one from open play.
Ronaldo accomplished this during Al Nassr’s dominant 8-0 victory over Abha in Matchday 26 of the 2023-24 Saudi Pro League. He sealed the hat-trick within the first 42 minutes, securing a decisive win for his team.
While Messi has an impressive 22 goals from outside the box across his career (between free kicks and open play), he has yet to score three such goals in a single match.