
This is a list of hat-tricks in the AFC Asian Cup, that being when a player scores three or more goals in a tournament match of the AFC Asian Cup (not including qualification matches). Hat-tricks have occurred 18 times across the 17 editions.
The first tournament was held in 1956, however no hat-tricks were scored in the first four competitions. The first instance was in 1972, where Hossein Kalani scored three goals for Iran against Iraq in the group stage.[1] Later on in the same tournament again for Iran, Ali Jabbari scored three goals inside nine minutes to defeat Thailand 3–2. The first time a player would score four goals in a match would be 1980, where Behtash Fariba achieved the feat in a 7–0 win for Iran over Bangladesh. After 1980, three tournaments went by without a hat-trick before Ali Daei scored four goals for Iran in a 6–2 win over South Korea in 1996, also marking the first time at least three goals were scored in a match in the knockout stage. Two tournaments later in 2004, another knockout stage hat-trick was achieved by Ali Karimi for Iran in a 4–3 win against South Korea, again in the quarter-finals.
Iran have scored the most hat-tricks with six, while Bangladesh and Uzbekistan have conceded the most, with three each. No player has scored multiple hat-tricks in the Asian Cup. Also, every hat-trick scorer has had their side go on to win their match.
Hat-tricks
| Key | |
|---|---|
| 4 | Player scored four goals in the match |
| No. | Tournament | Player | Time of goals | Representing | Result | Opponent | Round | Date | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 1972, Thailand | Hossein Kalani | 34', 70', 78' | 3–0 | Group stage | 9 May 1972 | [1][2] | ||
| 2. | Ali Jabbari | 80', 86', 88' | 3–2 | 13 May 1972 | [2] | ||||
| 3. | 1976, Iran | Gholam Hossein Mazloumi | 63', 74', 80' | 8–0 | Group stage | 8 June 1976 | [3] | ||
| 4. | 1980, Kuwait | Behtash Fariba4 | 11', 34', 80', 82' | 7–0 | Group stage | 22 September 1980 | [4] | ||
| 5. | Choi Soon-ho | 26', 53', 78' (pen.) | 4–1 | 24 September 1980 | [5] | ||||
| 6. | Shen Xiangfu | 1', 5', 72' | 6–0 | 25 September 1980 | |||||
| 7. | Xu Yonglai | 16', 79', 89' | 6–0 | 25 September 1980 | |||||
| 8. | 1996, United Arab Emirates | Ali Daei4 | 66', 76', 83', 89' (pen.) | 6–2 | Quarter-finals | 16 December 1996 | [6] | ||
| 9. | 2000, Lebanon | Akinori Nishizawa | 14', 25', 49' | 8–1 | Group stage | 17 October 2000 | [7] | ||
| 10. | Naohiro Takahara | 18', 20', 57' | 8–1 | 17 October 2000 | [7] | ||||
| 11. | Lee Dong-gook | 30', 76', 90+1' | 3–0 | 19 October 2000 | [8] | ||||
| 12. | Mohammad Al-Shalhoub | 35', 78', 86' | 5–0 | 20 October 2000 | [9] | ||||
| 13. | 2004, China | Ali Karimi | 10', 20', 77' | 4–3 | Quarter-finals | 31 July 2004 | [10] | ||
| 14. | 2011, Qatar | Ismail Abdullatif4 | 16', 19', 35', 77' | 5–2 | Group stage | 14 January 2011 | [11] | ||
| 15. | Shinji Okazaki | 8', 13', 80' | 5–0 | 17 January 2011 | [12] | ||||
| 16. | 2015, Australia | Hamza Al-Dardour4 | 35', 45+2', 75', 80' | 5–1 | Group stage | 16 January 2015 | [13] | ||
| 17. | 2019, United Arab Emirates | Almoez Ali4 | 9', 11', 55', 60' | 6–0 | Group stage | 13 January 2019 | [14] | ||
| 18. | Vitalij Lux | 24', 51', 77' | 3–1 | 16 January 2019 | [15] |
By nation
| Nation | Hat-tricks for | Hat-tricks against |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | 0 | |
| 3 | 0 | |
| 2 | 2 | |
| 2 | 0 | |
| 1 | 1 | |
| 1 | 0 | |
| 1 | 0 | |
| 1 | 0 | |
| 1 | 0 | |
| 0 | 3 | |
| 0 | 3 | |
| 0 | 1 | |
| 0 | 1 | |
| 0 | 1 | |
| 0 | 1 | |
| 0 | 1 | |
| 0 | 1 | |
| 0 | 1 | |
| 0 | 1 | |
| 0 | 1 |
References
- 1 2 "Asian Cup 1972". Inside World Football. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
- 1 2 "Asia's greatest national teams: IR Iran (1970s)". Asian Football Confederation. 29 April 2020.
- ↑ "Iran Wins 8-0; To Face Chinese". The Japan Times. 10 June 1976. p. 10.
- ↑ "Profile: Behtash Fariba". Team Melli. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
Fariba continued to be a star of the team and he was the first Iranian footballer to score four goals in an international match which was against Bangladesh in that championship
- ↑ "아시아축구 韓國(한국) 「아랍에미레이트」 大破(대파) 4대1". 동아일보. 25 September 1980. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
- ↑ "Magical Moments: Ali Daei vs Korea Republic (1996 AFC Asian Cup)". Asian Football Confederation. 6 June 2020.
- 1 2 Himmer, Alastair (19 October 2000). "Japan runs riot over Uzbekistan". The Japan Times.
- ↑ "Lion King eases South Korea through". BBC Sport. 19 October 2000.
- ↑ "World Cup - Squad - Mohammed Al-Shlhoub". BBC Sport. 30 May 2002.
Few can forget his amazing hat-trick against Uzbekistan at Lebanon 2000.
- ↑ "Iran wreaks its Asian Cup revenge on S Korea". Independent Online. 31 July 2004.
- ↑ "India trail 1-4 at half-time against Bahrain". The Times of India. 14 January 2011.
- ↑ "Okazaki hits hat trick as Japan routs Saudis". The Japan Times. 19 January 2011.
- ↑ Veo, Valerio (17 January 2015). "Jordan beat Palestine, but how good are they against stronger opposition?". ESPN.
- ↑ "Almoez Ali makes history as Qatar thump North Korea to reach Asian Cup knockouts". ESPN. 13 January 2019.
- ↑ Caygill, Graham (16 January 2019). "Vitali Lux's hat-trick puts Kyrgyzstan in good position to qualify for Asian Cup last 16". The National.