FIFA 2026: Bukayo Saka joins elite England list with WC hat-trick
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "FIFA 2026: Bukayo Saka joins elite England list with WC hat-trick")
Bukayo Saka Photograph: (AFP)
Bukayo Saka scored a hat-trick, netting twice in the first half and once from the penalty spot after the break, to star in the third-place playoff against France.
Bukayo Saka made history on Sunday (Jul 19) by becoming only the fourth England player to score a hat-trick in a FIFA World Cup match. The Arsenal winger struck three times in England’s 6-4 win over France in the FIFA World Cup 2026 third-place play-off. Saka scored twice in the first half before completing his hat-trick from the penalty spot after the break. The first England player to score a WC hat-trick was Geoff Hurst, who achieved the feat in the 1966 final against West Germany at Wembley Stadium and his three goals guided England to a 4-2 victory and their first-ever title.
Gary Lineker became the second English player to score a hat-trick 20 years later. He netted all three goals in England’s Group F match against Poland on Jun 11, 1986, at Estadio Universitario in San Nicolas de los Garza.
Before Saka, Harry Kane was the last England player to score a World Cup hat-trick. Kane achieved it against Panama in a Group G match at the 2018 edition on Jun 24 in Nizhny Novgorod.
Saka’s three goals against France took his overall FIFA World Cup tally to six, making him England’s fourth-highest goalscorer in the tournament’s history.
He had also scored three goals at the 2022 edition and as a result, Saka has become only the third England player, after Gary Lineker and Harry Kane, to score at least three goals in more than one WC edition.
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Bukayo Saka Photograph: (AFP)
Harry Kane remains England’s highest goalscorer in World Cup history with 14 goals in 18 matches across the 2018, 2022 and 2026 editions. Lineker is second with 10 goals, while Jude Bellingham ranks third with eight goals.
