Carlos Vela reached legendary status in the MLS and with Los Angeles FC when he scored a stunning 38 goals across 36 games during the 2019 season. However, despite netting nine goals in 13 games in the COVID shortened season the next year, in 2021, the Mexican scored only five times across 20 appearances. Now 32 years old, some believed he could be heading into the twilight of his career.
Fast forward to the start of the 2022 season and Vela has come back swinging with a sensational hat-trick on the opening day. His trio of goals gives him three hat-tricks in the MLS and sits three behind record holder, Josef Martinez (6).
With Vela playing significantly fewer games in the competition than the likes of Bradley-Wright Phillips (5) and Landon Donovan (4), we take a look at the greatest hat-trick heroes in MLS history.
5) Zlatan Ibrahimovic
What puts the legendary Zlatan Ibrahimovic on this list is how the Swede registered three hat-tricks for the LA Galaxy in just two seasons to finish his career in California with 53 goals in 58 appearances.
Ironically, Ibrahimovic’s 31 goals from 31 games in the 2019 season saw him lose out to Vela’s 34 goals in the race for the Golden Boot. But that season also saw him bag a hat-trick in El Tráfico a season after he scored his first trio of goals for the Galaxy against Orlando City.
Ibrahimovic would later net a hat-trick against Sporting Kansas City before he scored five more goals in the MLS prior to heading back overseas to sign with AC Milan.
Not many have recorded hat-tricks in the MLS at a higher clip than the former Paris Saint-Germain star. In only 58 games he produced a stunning tally of three hat-tricks, compared to Vela’s three in 87 games.
4) Mamadou Diallo
Another man who has a magical record of hat-tricks is a player who may not readily come to mind for this list, Mamadou Diallo. The ex-Senegal star was a sensational goal scorer for club and country as he netted 21 markers in 46 caps for his nation, while also managing to score 47 times in 74 games in the MLS.
Diallo would earn himself four hat-tricks which would remain the second-most within a two-year period since netting his first for the Tampa Bay Mutiny against MetroStars (now New York Red Bulls), and his last against the Galaxy for, ironically, the MetroStars.
Diallo would score two more during his stay in the MLS for the Mutiny, as he netted all four goals in a win over the Galaxy again, and three in a victory over the Crew.
3) Stern John
Despite spending most of his career in England, during the early years of Stern John’s career, the striker reached legendary status in the MLS which at the time was just a few years into its existence. Following his debut in 1998, two years after the inaugural MLS season, John would rack up 44 goals in 55 appearances for the Columbus Crew.
The Trinidad and Tobago native scored five hat-tricks in just two seasons which saw him score his first against the Miami Fusion back on April 18, 1998, and his final hat-trick against the MetroStars just over a year later on August 18, 1999.
Following five hat-tricks in less than 500 days spanning a meager 55 games, only one man in MLS history comes close to the insane ratio that John would finish his career with in North America.
2) Sebastian Giovinco
Toronto shocked the world when they brought in Sebastian Giovinco from Juventus back in 2015. Following four years of incredible success, the Italian scored 83 times in 142 games for the Canadian side which also won seven trophies including the MLS Cup in 2017.
Giovinco was a force for Toronto before heading to the Saudi Pro League. He scored four hat-tricks in just over a year as the forward netted a trio of goals against New York City FC on July 12, 2015, before scoring a hat-tricks against the Revs less than 400 days later on August 6, 2016.
Similar to John and Ibrahimovic, Giovinco scored at such an incredible pace that his four hat-tricks inside 400 days is stunning, but it isn’t quite enough for the number one spot.
- Josef Martinez
The undisputed GOAT of MLS hat-tricks following his sixth against D.C United back in 2018, Martinez has registered more 3 goal games than any other man in history in North America’s top soccer league.
Despite interest from Europe, Martinez stayed loyal to Atlanta United and now boasts over 100 goals for the club. Easily the greatest player in franchise history, the 28-year-old managed to net all six of his hat-tricks inside a year as he scored his first against the New England Revolution back on September 13, 2017, before his most recent against D.C back on July 21, 2018.
In 2018, Martínez became the most decorated single-season player in MLS history by winning the League MVP, All-Star Game MVP, Golden Boot, the MLS Cup and was named MLS Cup Final MVP. Every other player in the North American soccer league have their work cut out for them if they hope to one day pass Martinez.
-Grant McQuillan
Twitter: @Grant_McQuillan