Hat-Trick Scorers in Africa Cup of Nations History

Well, in this post, we have prepared a list of Africa Cup of Nations hat-tricks for you in chronological order. Except for three, the rest of footballers on the list of hat-trick scorers in Africa Cup of Nations history scored or have scored 3 goals in a single match of the major African Cup.

We should also say that some of the footballers on the list like Samuel Eto'o, Laurent Pokou, and Hassan El-Shazly are also among the African Nations Cup all-time top scorers with Eto'o actually topping the list with 18 goals scored in the major African cup.

A List of Hat-Trick Scorers in Africa Cup of Nations History

Before anything else, if you’re looking for

most hat-tricks in international football

or most hat-tricks in football history, we should say you’d better look elsewhere since in this post we are only to hat-trick scorers in Africa Cup of Nations history.

Of course, the record for

most hat-tricks in football

history belongs to the Brazilian legend, Pele, with 92 hat-tricks and the record for most hat-tricks in international football belongs to the Portuguese superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo, with the 10 hat-tricks he has scored for the Portuguese national team. Anyway, as we mentioned above, we are not to these subjects in this post but only hat-trick scorers in Africa Cup of Nations history. Please note that, in the list below, by the year in parentheses in front of each footballer’s name we mean actually the edition of Africa Cup of Nations the footballer scored his hat-trick in.

Ad-Diba (1957)

Mohamed Diab Al-Attar, known as Ad-Diba in the world of football, is a passed Egyptian footballer who is actually one of the few footballers on the list of hat-trick scorers in Africa Cup of Nations history with a hat-trick of more than 3 goals to his name. He actually scored all the 4 goals by which Egypt beat Ethiopia in the final of 1957 Africa Cup of Nations and in 2nd, 7th, 68th, and 89th minutes. He also became the competition’s top scorer with 5 goals. It should also be mentioned here that in that competition, which was actually the first edition of Africa Cup of Nations, only four teams, namely Egypt, Ethiopia, South Africa, and Sudan, took part. Unfortunately, since Ad-Diba is one of those very-old-time footballers - he actually played between 1944 and 1958 - there is no authentic photo of him at hand to present you with here.

Mahmoud El-Gohary (1959)

Died in 2012 at the age of 74, Mahmoud El-Gohary is another old-time footballer and Egyptian hat-trick scorer on the list of

hat-trick scorers in Africa Cup of Nations history

. Very much like Ad-Diba, he also scored his hat-trick against Ethiopia and in the final of Africa Cup of Nations, but his hat-trick was a three-goal one and in 1959 edition of the competition. In that match, Egypt beat Ethiopia 4-0 with the goals El-Gohary scored in 29th, 42nd, and 73rd minutes and also the goal El-Sherbini scored in 64th minutes.

And again just like Ad-Diba, El-Gohary also became the top scorer of that edition of Africa Cup of Nations (1959) with the 3 goals he scored. The interesting fact about El-Gohary is that while his career as a player only lasted 5 years - from 1955 to 1961, his managerial career took 42 years between 1965 and 2007 before it finished. During this time, he served the only club he had played for as a player,

, in different time periods and also the Egyptian national team between 1997 and 2001.

Mohamed Morsi Hussein (1963)

Yet another Egyptian hat-trick scorer on the list of hat-trick scorers in Africa Cup of Nations history, Mohamed Morsi Hussein is also a passed footballer who died at a very early age of 26 in a car accident. He actually scored three goals of the six goals Egypt scored against Nigeria in the 1963 Africa Cup of Nations group stage to register his name as one of the hat-trick scorers in the history of the major African cup. In that tournament, the passed Egyptian footballer scored 4 goals - his fourth against Sudan - to become the second highest scorer of the tournament alongside Edward Acquah of Ghana and Nasr Eddin Abbas of Sudan each with 4 goals and behind Hassan El-Shazly of Egypt with 6 goals. His three goals against Nigeria were scored in 30th, 32nd, and 82nd minutes.

Hassan El-Shazly (1963 and 1970)

The only footballer on the list of hat-trick scorers in Africa Cup of Nations history who managed to score a hat-trick in two editions of Africa Cup of Nations, namely the 1963 and 1970 editions, Hassan El-Shazly is also a passed Egyptian footballer with a few goalscoring records to his name you might like to know. He’s not only the top scorer of 1963

with 6 goals but also the top Egyptian scorer in the history of the major African cup with 12 goals and the Egyptian Premier League highest goalscorer ever with 176 goals plus that he also occupies the 4th place on the list of

African Nations Cup all-time top scorers

with the 12 goals he scored in the major African competition.

El-Shazly actually proved a prolific goalscorer during his career with the 176 goals he scored in 325 club appearances - 1.08 goals in every two appearances - and 42 goals in 62 international appearances which translates to a little bit more than two goals (exactly 2.01) in every three appearances. His first hat-trick in Africa Cup of Nations was scored in the 1963 edition of the competition where he managed to score 3 goals in 42nd, 44th, and 81st minutes of a match against Nigeria in the group stage which ended in the 6-3 victory of his side, Egypt, and his second in the 1970 edition of Africa Cup of Nations in the third-place match against Ivory Coast where the top Egyptian scorer scored all his side’s three goals in a 3-1 victory in 3rd, 14th, and 50th minutes. In that competition, El-Shazly actually became the second top scorer of the tournament with 5 goals behind Laurent Pokou of Ivory Coast with 8 goals.

Eustache Mangle (1965)

Not much information is at hand about this old-time footballer on the list of hat-trick scorers in Africa Cup of Nations history, however, we know that he played sometime during 1960s and for the Ivorian club ASEC Abidjan. He also served the

between 1965 and 1968 making 30 appearances and scoring 7 goals for them in the process. The list of Africa Cup of Nations hat-tricks also bears his name for the three goals he scored for the Ivorian national team in a 1965 Africa Cup of Nations group-stage match against Congo which ended in the Ivory Coast 3-0 win. He actually scored all the three goals and in 14th, 59th, and 80th minutes, and also became the tournament’s top scorer with those three goals, of course, alongside Ben Acheampong and Osei Kofi of Ghana.

Hacene Lalmas (1968)

The only Algerian footballer on the list of hat-trick scorers in Africa Cup of Nations history, Hacene Lalmas is a passed footballer - died in 2018 at the age of 75 - who proved to be a prolific goalscorer during his career. As far as we know, he actually scored 174 goals in 218 league appearances which translates to almost 4 goals in every 5 appearances. He was part of the Algerian national team in 1968 Africa Cup of Nations where he managed to score a hat-trick against

in a group stage match and in 15th, 25th, and 70th minutes. Algeria won that match 4-0 but despite his three goals, Hacene Lalmas did not become the tournament’s top goalscorer since Osei Kofi of Ghana, Wilberforce Mfum of Ghana again, and Laurent Pokou of Ivory Coast were in front of him with 4, 5, and 6 goals, respectively.

Laurent Pokou (1970)

The only footballer on the list of

hat-trick scorers in Africa Cup of Nations history

with a hat-trick of 5 goals, Laurent Pokou is a passed Ivorian footballer - he died in 2016 at the age of 69 - who was kind of a prolific goalscorer, too. He scored 53 goals in 94 club appearances and 21 goals in 30 international appearances which is something between 3 and 3.5 goals in every 5 appearances. However, what is he’s known for on the list of Africa Cup of Nations hat-tricks is the five goals he scored in a single Africa Cup of Nations match against Ethiopia in 1970 - in group stage - which actually ended in Ivory Coast’s 6-1 win.

Pokou became the top scorer of that tournament with 8 goals and actually with a good margin with the tournament’s second top scorer, Hassan El-Shazly, with 5 goals. Laurent Pokou is actually the only footballer on the list of hat-trick scorers in Africa Cup of Nations history, of course, alongside Samuel Eto'o who became the top scorer of two editions of Africa Cup of Nations; actually the 1968 and 1970 editions.

Bernard Chanda (1974)

One of the only two Zambian footballers on the list of hat-trick scorers in Africa Cup of Nations history, Bernard Chanda is a passed footballer - he died in 1993 at the age of 41 - who is actually Zambia’s fourth top scorer of all time with the 29 goals that he scored in his 68 international appearances. In 1974 Africa Cup of Nations, he actually scored a hat-trick against Congo and in the semi-final match of that tournament which ended in Zambia’s 4-2 win. He scored his three goals in 70th, 97th, and 111th minutes as his side actually managed to grab a win in extra time, and with these three goals he actually became the third top scorer of the tournament alongside Stanley Mubiru of Uganda and Mayanga Maku of Zaire.

Joel Tiehi (1994)

A retired Ivorian footballer who was part of the Ivory Coast national team in 1992, 1994, 1996, and 1998 editions of Africa Cup of Nations, Joel Tiehi actually won the 1992 edition of the major African cup with his country’s national team and managed to register a hat-trick in the competition’s 1994 edition. He scored three goals against

in a group-stage match of 1994 Africa Cup of Nations which ended in Ivory Coast’s 4-0 win. He scored in 19th, 63th, and 70th minutes in the same match and also another goal against Ghana in quarter-finals, but that total (4) actually made him the second top scorer of the tournament behind Rashidi Yekini with 5 goals.

Kalusha Bwalya (1996)

The second and actually last Zambian footballer on the list of hat-trick scorers in Africa Cup of Nations history, Kalusha Bwalya is a 56-year-old retired footballer who played as a forward and winger for ten clubs during his career the best of them being the Dutch club, PSV Eindhoven, and the French club, Leon. Bwalya was actually part of the

in 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, and 2000 editions of Africa Cup of Nations, and although he never won the competition, he registered a hat-trick in the 1996 edition of the major African cup where he managed to score three goals in 2nd, 9th, and 87th minutes against Sierra Leone in the group stage. He also became the top scorer of the same competition with 5 goals.

Benedict McCarthy (1998)

One of the only two footballers on the list of hat-trick scorers in Africa Cup of Nations history with a four-goal hat-trick, Benedict McCarthy is a 44-year-old retired South African footballer who served some top European clubs like Ajax, Porto and West Ham United during his career. He’s actually one of the highly-decorated footballers on the list with around 20 club trophies and individual honors to his name.

McCarthy was part of the

in 1998, 2002, and 2006 editions of Africa Cup of Nations and managed to register a four-goal hat-trick in the first edition in a group-stage match against Namibia where he scored all the four goals of the game win in 8th, 11th, 19th, and 21st minutes helping his team on a 4-1 victory. He also became the top scorer of the same tournament with 7 goals, indeed, jointly with Hossam Hassan of Egypt, and was also named African Cup of Nations Best Player and on the tournament’s Team of the Tournament in the same year (1998).

Hossam Hassan (1998)

A prolific goalscorer in nature and Egypt’s all-time top scorer with 83 goals, Hossam Hassan is a 55-year-old retired Egyptian footballer who also has a place on the list of

hat-trick scorers in Africa Cup of Nations history

. He actually scored his hat-trick in the 1998 edition of Africa Cup of Nations and in a group-stage match against Zambia that ended in Egypt’s 4-0 victory. He scored his goals in 34th, 57th, and 71st minutes and other than that managed to score 4 other goals in other games to become the top scorer of the competition with 7 goals, of course, alongside Benedict McCarthy with the same number of goals.

Hassan is also one of the highly-decorated footballers on the list, if he’s not actually the highest decorated one: He won around 40 club trophies during his career of which 25 was with Al Ahly; the club he was actually a product of. It should also be mentioned here that Hassan won three editions of the Africa Cup of Nations, namely the 1986, 1998, and 2006 editions, with the Egyptian national team and also became the Egyptian Premier League top scorer in 1998-99 and 2001-02 seasons.

Patrick Mboma (2004)

One of the only two Cameroonian footballers on the list of hat-trick scorers in Africa Cup of Nations history, Patrick Mboma is a 51-year-old retired footballer who was actually part of the Cameroonian national team in 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006 editions of Africa Cup of Nations winning the 2000 and 2002 editions and becoming the top scorer of 2002 edition of the major African cup with 3 goals, however, he scored his hat-trick in the next edition (2004) where he managed to score 3 goals in 31st, 44th, and 65th minutes in a group-stage match against

that ended in Cameroon’s 5-3 victory. Patrick Mboma is one of the two footballers on the list of a top European club. He’s actually a product of PSG and also was with the alongside Samuel Eto'o to be a product club for five years at the start of his career, though he only made 16 appearances and scored 2 goals for them during this time.

Samuel Eto'o (2006)

Although he’s not among the top hat-trick scorers on the

list of Africa Cup of Nations hat-tricks

- we mean with 4 or 5 goals, you can easily call Samuel Eto'o the best modern African player on the list. He’s a product of Real Madrid and during his playtime he served some top European clubs like Barcelona, Inter Milan and Chelsea, not as a sidelined player or a preferred substitute but as an active player who made 199 appearances and scored 130 goals - 3.25 goals in every 5 appearances - only for Barcelona and in 5 seasons. Eto'o has the most number of individual awards to his name on the list - around 30 - including a FIFA Club World Cup Golden Ball in 2010, and is the only footballer on the list, of course alongside Laurent Pokou, who has become the top scorer of two editions of Africa Cup of Nations, namely the 2006 and 2008 editions, with 5 goals in both.

Eto'o is also Africa Cup of Nations and Cameroon top scorer of all time with 18 and 56 goals respectively. Call him the shining jewel of the list of Africa Cup of Nations hat-trick scorers and you haven’t exaggerated at all with the records he has registered. Anyway, let’s see how he has done in Africa Cup of Nations. Eto'o scored his Africa Cup of Nation hat-trick in the 2006 edition of the major African cup and in a group-stage match against

that ended in Cameroon’s 3-1 victory. Eto'o scored in 20th, 39th, and 78th minutes in that match and with the 2 goals he scored against Togo and Congo in the same stage he became the top scorer of the competition. Just imagine Cameroon could advance to the next stages and how many goals Eto'o would add to his total goals in the competition - surely more than 5.

And as mentioned above, Eto'o also became the top scorer of 2008 Africa Cup of Nations with the same number of goals (5), though he didn’t score a hat-trick in that competition. His goals were actually scored against Egypt, Zambia, and Sudan all in the group stage with three of them being scored from the penalty spot, and although Cameroon advanced to the tournament’s final to be just stopped 1-0 by Egypt in their final try to win the African major cup, Eto'o didn’t add any more goals to his total in any of the later stages sufficing to 5 goals to become the tournament’s top scorer.

Francileudo dos Santos (2006)

The only Tunisian footballer on the list of hat-trick scorers in Africa Cup of Nations history, Francileudo dos Santos is a 42-year-old retired footballer who took part in three editions of Africa Cup of Nations, namely the 2004, 2006, and 2008 editions, with the Tunisian national team becoming the top scorer of the competition’s 2004 edition with 4 goals alongside four other African footballers and scoring a hat-trick in the 2006 edition. He actually scored three goals in 35th, 82nd, and 93rd minutes against Zambia in a 2006 Africa Cup of Nations group-stage match which ended in Tunisia 4-1 win, and also another goal against South Africa which summed up his goals to 4 putting him as the second top scorer of the tournament alongside Pascal Feindouno of Senegal and Ahmed Hassan of Egypt and behind Samuel Eto'o with 5 goals.

Soufiane Alloudi (2008)

A 38-year-old retired Moroccan footballer with only one club trophy to his name, actually the 2009–10 Gulf Club Champions Cup he won with the UAE club, Al Wasl, Soufiane Alloudi may not be as famous as some other footballers on the list, but he’s special in one respect, and that is he has scored the fastest goal in a hat-trick among hat-trick scorers in Africa Cup of Nations history: He actually scored three goals in 1st, 5th, and 28th minutes in a 2008 Africa Cup of Nations group-stage match against Namibia which ended in Tunisia’s 5-1 victory. Later in that match, Alloudi was injured and the injury was so serious he couldn’t take part in the rest of his team’s matches.

didn’t advance beyond group stage with some believing the loss of Alloudi was the reason, however, if he wasn’t injured, he could probably score more goals in later matches in the competition and even become its top scorer.

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