Cristiano Ronaldo scores hat-trick in 15 minutes for Al Nassr: How does it compare with Lionel Messi’s fastest?

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick in just 15 minutes for Al Nassr in their 5-3 win over Al Kholood, a burst that took him to 985 career goals. It was a remarkable display of efficiency from the 41-year-old, but how does it compare with the fastest treble of his great rival, Lionel Messi?

With the match tied 2-2, Ronaldo scored in the 66th, 72nd and 81st minutes to take control of the Saudi Pro League clash at Alawwal Park. The first two goals were set up by Joao Felix, who finished the night with four assists, and the third came from a Sadio Mane pass.

Messi’s fastest hat-trick came more recently, in October 2024 for Inter Miami, when he needed only 11 minutes to score three goals in a 6-2 win over New England Revolution after coming on in the 57th minute.

The Argentine also has a treble that took a very similar amount of time for Barcelona, when he needed 13 minutes in a 2014-15 league match against Rayo Vallecano at Camp Nou.

Not even Ronaldo’s fastest hat-trick

Despite scoring three goals in just 15 minutes, this was not the fastest hat-trick of Ronaldo’s own career either. His best mark came in 2015, when he scored his first three goals in eight minutes for Real Madrid against Granada, in a match he finished with five goals, the highest tally of his career in a single game, a mark he also reached against Espanyol.

With his latest treble against Al Kholood, Ronaldo reached 67 career hat-tricks. He now has 44 for Real Madrid, 10 for Portugal, seven for Al Nassr, three for Manchester United and three for Juventus, according to ESPN.

With both legends in the final stretch of their careers, every performance like this one adds a new chapter to the debate over who is the greatest of all time. Ronaldo is now 15 goals away from 1,000, while Messi sits on 936, and neither seems ready to slow down. The fast hat-tricks may not be as frequent as they once were, but as long as both keep scoring, the comparisons will continue.