5 footballers who scored a hat-trick on their full league debut

Scoring a hat-trick is perhaps the pinnacle a player can reach during a match. Of course, scoring more than three goals is also great and so is the concept of a perfect hat-trick.

However, the truth is that scoring thrice in a game, regardless of how they come, is perhaps the best feeling a player can achieve in a football match. But there is something that could beat this.

For any footballer, debuts are matches to remember. After all, they are the ‘first time’ – and no-one ever forgets their first time.

So what happens when a player scores a hat-trick in their debut match? It is a feeling best described by the ones that successfully. Not many have done it, however, as here are the five players who scored a hat-trick on their first league start with their club…

#5 Alessandro Del Piero

Putting him here feels a bit like cheating because he had played for Juventus numerous times as a substitute before his first start against Parma in the 1993-1994 season.

However, Alessandro Del Piero turned out to be a legend by the time he hung up his boots and his first full start provides a good narrative of how he was always destined for greatness.

Before his first start against Parma, he had already scored after coming on as a substitute against Reggiana. But given that Juventus already had a great striker in the form of Roberto Baggio, Del Piero found his chance hard to come by.

But then it happened. Against Parma in the 28th league game of the season, his hat-trick helped Juventus to a 4-0 win and set him on the path of greatness. Juventus might not have won the league that season but they had unearthed a future legend.