A closer look at England’s recent hat-tricks as Bukayo Saka celebrates his first

Bukayo Saka’s hat-trick against North Macedonia was the 12th this century by an England player.

Here, Football Mad takes a look at the other 11, scored by just six players.

Michael Owen (v Germany, September 2001)

Owen’s first international hat-trick came in the famous 5-1 World Cup qualifying win at the Olympic Stadium in Munich which has entered the annals of England folklore, benefitting from knockdowns from Nick Barmby and Emile Heskey before lashing a Steven Gerrard pass past Oliver Kahn.

Michael Owen (v Colombia, May 2005)

Owen’s second and final treble came in the less-heralded surroundings of a 3-2 friendly win in Giants Stadium, New Jersey, at the end of a criticised post-season tour to the United States, going past Sir Tom Finney, Nat Lofthouse and Alan Shearer on the all-time scorers list.

Peter Crouch (v Jamaica, June 2006)

The day ‘The Robot’ entered football history as England ran riot with a 6-0 friendly win at Old Trafford before departing for the World Cup in Germany, with Crouch even being able to afford to miss a penalty before completing his hat-trick.

Theo Walcott (v Croatia, September 2008)

Walcott justified his selection ahead of David Beckham as Croatia were hammered 4-1 in Zagreb in a World Cup qualifier, becoming England’s youngest scorer of a hat-trick at the age of 19.

Jermain Defoe (v Bulgaria, September 2010)

Defoe became the first England player to score a hat-trick at the new Wembley Stadium in a 4-0 Euro 2012 qualifier, with all three goals coming courtesy of Wayne Rooney assists.

Harry Kane (v Panama, June 2018)

Kane joined Sir Geoff Hurst and Gary Lineker as the only England players to score World Cup hat-tricks as a 6-1 win advanced them into the knockout stages in Russia but it was hardly a classic of the genre, with two penalties followed by a fortunate deflection off his heel from Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s shot.

Raheem Sterling (v Czech Republic, March 2019)

Sterling scored Wembley’s first England hat-trick in nine years in the 5-0 Euro 2020 qualifier, finishing off a 24-pass move for his opener before adding two in six second-half minutes – a shot on the turn and a 20-yard strike deflecting off Ondrej Celustka.

Harry Kane (v Bulgaria, September 2019)

Kane’s second international hat-trick was very similar to his first in that it featured two penalties after Kane had opened his account with a smart finish on the turn.

Harry Kane (v Montenegro, November 2019)

Just two months later England celebrated European Championship qualification with a 7-0 thrashing in which Kane moved sixth on the country’s all-time leading scorers list with 31 after a first-half hat-trick, which included two headers.

Harry Kane (v Albania, November 2021)

Kane registered another first-half treble in a 5-0 hammering which put England on the verge of reaching World Cup 2022, the highlight being a stunning scissor kick from Phil Foden’s corner.

Harry Kane (v San Marino, November 2021)

Kane became only the fourth England player to score hat-tricks in consecutive games with four goals in a 15-minute spell before half-time in a 10-0 thrashing to move level with Gary Lineker on 48 England goals.