The FC Barcelona star scores three goals in 19 minutes for Argentina against Panama after only coming off the bench in the second half
Watching Leo Messi score a hat-trick is no longer a surprising sight, yet the manner in which he managed his latest three-goal haul was quite special, even for his sky-high standards.
After coming off the bench on 61 minutes with his country leading by just one goal, the Barca no.10 rolled up his socks and made up for lost time.
Five minutes after his introduction, he grabbed his first, before hitting two more 14 minutes later to give his side a big win.
The only two previous times that the Argentine star has scored a hat-trick quicker was against Mallorca (in 17 minutes) in 2011/12 and against Rayo Vallecano last campaign (in 12 minutes).
Messi’s ten-fastest hat-tricks
Of his 35 hat-tricks, ten of them have been scored in half an hour or less. Here is a look back at his ten-fastest ones:
Season |
Team |
Opponent |
Stadium |
Competition |
Hat-trick time (minutes) |
2014/15 |
Barça |
Rayo Vallecano |
Camp Nou |
Liga |
12 |
2011/12 |
Barça |
Mallorca |
Camp Nou |
Liga |
17 |
2015/16 |
Argentina |
Panama |
Soldier Field |
Copa America |
19 |
2009/10 |
Barça |
Arsenal |
Camp Nou |
Champions League |
21 |
2011/12 |
Barça |
Bayer Leverkusen |
Camp Nou |
Champions League |
24 |
2009/10 |
Barça |
Valencia |
Camp Nou |
Liga |
27 |
2014/15 |
Barça |
Levante |
Camp Nou |
Liga |
27 |
2010/11 |
Barça |
Betis |
Camp Nou |
Copa del Rey |
29 |
2011/12 |
Barça |
Malaga |
Camp Nou |
Liga |
29 |
2013/14 |
Barça |
Valencia |
Camp Nou |
Liga |
30 |
Messi strikes again with a free-kick
His second of his three against Panama was a delicate free-kick from all of 30 yards, demonstrating his set-piece threat once again. This past season was his best for Barça from dead balls, and his latest for his country is his eighth of the campaign. That takes his career total to 27 – 23 for Barça and 4 for Argentina