Until now, Geoff Hurst had been the only man to score a hat-trick in a World Cup 2022 final but after seeing Kylian Mbappe equal his record in Sunday’s incredible showpiece between France and Argentina, the England legend was magnanimous in his response.
French superstar Mbappe, at the age of just 23 and having already won the World Cup as a teenager in 2018, scored a hat-trick as Les Bleus fought back from 2-0 down to force extra time and then battled back from falling a goal behind in the additional 30 minutes to take the final to a penalty shootout.
With two of his three goals having already come from the penalty spot, Mbappe was perfect again from 12 yards in the shootout but Kingsley Coman and Aurelien Tchouameni both missed before Gonzalo Montiel netted the decisive spot-kick to spark wild scenes of celebration for Argentina.
Hurst was the only previous player to grab a treble in a men’s World Cup final after his three goals helped England beat West Germany 4-2 in 1966.
Having netted once in the victory over Croatia in the 2018 showpiece, Mbappe also became the first man to score four goals in finals - leapfrogging Hurst, Vava, Pele and Zinedine Zidane on three, with the latter trio grabbing their hauls across two finals.
In response to Mbappe’s hat-trick heroics, Hurst tweeted: “Many congratulations to Mbappe, whatever happens. I’ve had a great run!”
The Three Lions icon scored 24 goals in 49 international games between 1966 and 1972, while the French superstar already has 36 goals in 66 matches for his country.
