Goals win matches, and there is no feeling more pleasant than bagging three of them in a single match. While football icons Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo chalked up so many this century that we pretty much lost count, there are a couple of Zambian players who would sneak in to join them at the table of hat-trick scorers in Europe.
Buckle up as BolaNews unveils the last five times a Zambian player scored a hat-trick in a European top-flight league.
Patson Daka vs TSV Hartberg (2020)
We take a trip back to 2020, when football was just returning from a gut-wrenching hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Soccer fans were glued to their TV sets waiting for a moment that would get them off their seats.
Patson Daka did not disappoint, scoring three goals as RB Salzburg clobbered TSV Hartberg 6-0 during an Austrian Bundesliga match in early June. The Zambian striker got off the mark in the third minute after making a powerful run towards goal before poking the ball into the net with his right foot.
He completed his brace in the 11th minute after twisting the defender’s ankles, adding to Enock Mwepu’s cushion goal. Just after the interval the match ball was Daka’s when he slotted in another with his left foot from an acute angle. Astonishingly, it was the Chipolopolo forward’s third hat-trick of the 2019-20 campaign.
Patson Daka vs Rapid Vienna (2021)
With Erling Haaland completing a transfer to Borussia Dortmund in early 2020, Patson Daka was RB Salzburg’s main hitman upfront going into the 2020-21 season. Rapid Vienna were Daka’s first hat-trick victims of the term as they fell 4-2 in a top-of-the-table clash.
Half an hour into the contest, Mergim Berisha laid off the ball to Patson Daka, who smashed it past the goalkeeper for the opener. You have got to spare a thought for any fan who left within the first hour because the goals galore was about to begin.
Daka doubled the lead for the hosts in the 63rd minute after Berisha squared the ball to him on the quick transition. The explosive duo were at it again mimicking the exact same goal seven minutes later with Berisha putting the ball on a plate for Daka as both stars completed assist and goal trebles, respectively.
Patson Daka vs SK Strum Graz (2021)
Daka headlined another blockbuster fixture, netting thrice to lead RB Salzburg to a 3-1 victory over SK Strum Graz in the Austrian Bundesliga. In the third minute, the Zambian pounced on a poor clearance of a long ball by the defender, guiding the ball into the net before the onrushing goalkeeper could reach it.
Red bull gives you wings and it did just that for Daka, who was in full flight scoring a diving header at the far post to give Red Bull Salzburg a 2-0 lead at eight minutes. He wrote his name into the record books in the 11th minute, helping the ball over the line to score the earliest hat-trick in Austria Bundesliga history.
With 27 goals in 28 matches, Daka became the first player since Mwape Miti to win a Golden Boot in a European league, prompting Leicester City to sign him for a Zambian record €30 million.
Fashion Sakala Jr. vs Motherwell (2021)
On 31st October 2021, Fashion Sakala Jr. was one of the most celebrated people in Britain, probably only second to Queen Elizabeth II, I say jokingly. He scored a sensational hat-trick in Rangers’ 6-1 win over Motherwell in the Scottish Championship as his famous Zamina Mina chant echoed in the streets of Glasgow.
Sakala scored a powerful header on the brink of halftime to turn the game on its head, making it 2-1 for Steven Gerrard’s side, who had trailed earlier in the match. The Zambian winger got his second in the 63rd minute with a thumping strike from outside the box.
Ghosting in at the far post, Sakala completed his treble after guiding the ball past the goalkeeper into the net.
Kingstone Mutandwa vs SCR Al Altach (2026)
The latest addition to the list of Zambia’s hat-trick scorers in Europe is SV Ried striker, Kingstone Mutandwa. Mutandwa borrowed the scoring boots of Lionel Messi, whom he faced in an international friendly two days prior, to score a hat-trick off the bench in the Austria Bundesliga.
Introduced at the halftime interval with his side down 2-0, Mutandwa got on the scoresheet at 61 minutes with a bullet header to halve the deficit. He restored parity just eight minutes later, nodding in a cross from Antionio Van Wyk.
While Emi Martinez had denied the Zambian striker with a massive save two days prior, there was no stopping Mutandwa this time around who secured the first hat-trick of his European career from the spot at the death.
READ ALSO: ZPL Lifts Zesco United Suspension After Court Case Withdrawal
