Hat-trick
When a single player achieves a scoring feat, most often three goals, in one match.
Definition
A hat-trick usually means a player scoring three goals in a single game, as in football, ice hockey, field hockey, and handball. The three scores do not have to come one after another; totalling three across the match is enough.
The term is also used in cricket for a bowler who takes three wickets with three consecutive deliveries. In every sport it marks an outstanding individual performance within one match.
Where you’ll hear “hat-trick”
Sports that use this term:
Football
The world’s most popular team sport — endless running, teamwork and community in one game.
Ice Hockey
A fast team sport on ice that combines skating skill with quick passing and goal-scoring.
Field Hockey
An outdoor team sport that uses curved sticks to move a ball, built on agility and teamwork.
Cricket
A bat-and-ball team sport where sides take turns to bat and to bowl and field, scoring runs.
Explore across the knowledge base
Follow the threads that connect Hat-trick to the rest of SocialSportHub.
Scoring systems
- Football (soccer) scoringFootball is scored by goals, with each goal worth one point and the team scoring the most goals winning the match.
- Basketball scoringBasketball is scored by shooting the ball through the hoop, with baskets worth one, two or three points depending on where the shot is taken.
- Badminton scoringBadminton uses rally scoring to 21 points per game, with matches decided over the best of three games.
Officiating
- ScorekeeperThe official who keeps the authoritative record of a contest — score, fouls, and statistics — usually seated at a scorer's table beside the timekeeper.
- JudgeA judge is an official who scores performance in judged sports, awarding marks for execution and difficulty rather than counting goals or timing a race.
Positions
- StrikerA striker is the main attacking player in football, positioned furthest forward with the primary job of scoring goals.
- Outside hitterThe outside hitter attacks from the left side of the net and is often a volleyball team’s main scoring option.
- Goal shooterThe goal shooter is a netball attacker who scores goals and is one of only two players allowed to shoot, working within the attacking goal third and circle.
- Small forwardThe small forward is a versatile wing player in basketball who can score inside and outside while also defending multiple positions.
- Shooting guardThe shooting guard is a perimeter player whose main role is to score, especially from mid-range and beyond the three-point line.
Go deeper with Hat-trick
Everywhere else on the platform that covers Hat-trick — assembled from what actually references it, so nothing here is a dead end.
Take it away
Open data and the whole-platform view of this subject.
How this page is maintained
- Content type
- Term
- Provenance
- Tier A — evergreen educational
- Verified external sources
- 0
- Content updated
- 2026-09-01
Evergreen, first-party explanation — it makes no claim that needs an external source. How we handle sources and reviews.