List of India national football team hat-tricks
The first player ever to score a hat-trick for India in an international football match was R. Lumsden. He achieved the feat in a friendly match against Australia on 24 September 1938, at the Sydney Showground, although India lost the match 5–4. This is the only instance when India have lost a game in which a player scored a hat-trick for the team. Lumsden was the only footballer to score a hat-trick for India before independence. Since independence in 1947, nine Indian players have scored a hat-trick in an international football match. No Indian player has ever scored more than three goals in a single game. The first player after independence to score a hat-trick for India was Sheoo Mewalal in a 4–0 victory over Burma in the 1952 Colombo Quadrangular Tournament.
Sunil Chhetri is the only Indian footballer to have scored a hat-trick more than once; he has achieved the feat three times, the latest of which came in India's 5–0 victory over Chinese Taipei in the opening match of the 2018 Intercontinental Cup. This is also the most recent instance of an Indian player scoring a hat-trick in an international football match. Chhetri's first hat-trick came in the final of the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup against Tajikistan, which helped India not only to win the cup but also to qualify directly for the AFC Asian Cup in 2011, the first time in 27 years that the team reached the final tournament.
Neville D'Souza was the first Asian to score a hat-trick in the history of Olympic football. He achieved the feat in a 4–2 victory over Australia at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. With four goals in three matches, he not only finished the tournament as joint top-scorer but also helped India become the first Asian team to reach the semi-finals of the tournament. Shabbir Ali scored the fastest hat-trick for the national team. He achieved the feat in a 3−1 victory over Indonesia on 16 August 1976, at the 1976 Merdeka Tournament. His goals came at the 7th, 33rd and 35th minutes of the match.
As of 5 September 2019, India have conceded thirteen hat-tricks, the most recent being scored by Ashraf Nu'man in a 4–2 defeat by Palestine in a friendly match on 6 February 2013. Branko Zebec was the first player to score a hat-trick against India, scoring four times for Yugoslavia in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Two other players, Bader Al-Mutawa of Kuwait in a friendly fixture and Ismail Abdullatif of Bahrain in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup, have scored four goals against India. The only instance of India not losing a game even after conceding a hat-trick occurred against Yemen in a 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification match on 4 May 2001, which ended in a 3–3 draw.
Hat-tricks for India
, ten players have scored a hat-trick for the national team., the first ever Indian and Asian hat-trick scorer at the Olympics
is the only Indian footballer to have scored a hat-trick more than once.
Date | Goals | Player | Opponent | Venue | Competition | Result | |
24 9 1938 | 3 | Sydney Showground, Australia | Friendly | 4–5 | |||
16 3 1952 | 3 | Colombo, Ceylon | 1952 Colombo Quadrangular Tournament | 4–0 | |||
26 12 1954 | 3 | Eden Gardens, Kolkata | 1954 Calcutta Quadrangular Tournament | 3–1 | |||
1 12 1956 | 3 | Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne | 1956 Summer Olympics | 4–2 | |||
16 08 1967 | 3 | Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur | 1967 Merdeka Tournament | 4–0 | |||
5 08 1971 | 3 | Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur | 1971 Merdeka Tournament | 5–1 | |||
23 07 1974 | 3 | Ipoh, Malaya | 1974 Merdeka Tournament | 4–2 | |||
16 08 1976 | 3 | Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur | 1976 Merdeka Tournament | 3–1 | |||
26 09 1999 | 3 | Kathmandu, Nepal | 1999 South Asian Games | 5–2 | |||
13 08 2008 | 3 | Ambedkar Stadium, New Delhi | 2008 AFC Challenge Cup | 4–1 | |||
08 10 2010 | 3 | Balewadi Sports Complex, Pune | Friendly | 3–1 | |||
1 06 2018 | 3 | Mumbai Football Arena, Mumbai | 2018 Intercontinental Cup | 5–0 |
Hat-tricks conceded by India
, India have conceded thirteen hat-tricks in total.of Yugoslavia was the first player to score a hat-trick against India.
Date | Goals | Player | Opponent | Venue | Competition | Result | |
15 07 1952 | 4 | Helsingen Pallokentta, Helsinki | 1952 Summer Olympics | 1–10 | |||
02 11 1969 | 3 | Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur | 1969 Merdeka Tournament | 0–6 | |||
07 08 1971 | 3 | Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur | 1971 Merdeka Tournament | 1–3 | |||
10 08 1976 | 3 | Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur | 1976 Merdeka Tournament | 0–8 | |||
07 09 1977 | 3 | Busan Gudeok Stadium, Busan | 1977 President's Cup Football Tournament | 0–4 | |||
09 06 1993 | 3 | Seoul, South Korea | 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification | 0–7 | |||
13 01 2001 | 3 | Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi | Millennium Super Soccer Cup | 0–3 | |||
04 05 2001 | 3 | Althawra Sports City Stadium, Sana'a | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification | 3–3 | |||
16 08 2006 | 3 | Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata | 2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification | 0–3 | |||
14 11 2010 | 4 | Al Nahyan Stadium, Abu Dhabi | Friendly | 1–9 | |||
14 01 2011 | 4 | Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, Doha | 2011 AFC Asian Cup | 2–5 | |||
29 11 2011 | 3 | Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Margao | Friendly | 0–5 | |||
06 02 2013 | 3 | Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi | Friendly | 2–4 |