77 days to the World Cup: Gabriel Batistuta and the magic of June 21

Yahoo Sports StaffThu, March 26, 2026 at 12:00 PM UTC

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Argentine soccer star Gabriel Batistuta (9) especially enjoyed playing in the World Cup on one specific day in June. (DANIEL GARCIA via Getty Images)

The countdown to the 2026 World Cup is on! Each day ahead of the tournament’s return to North America, Yahoo Sports will highlight an insight or moment that showcases just how grand the world’s biggest sporting spectacle has become — even beyond the expanded field of this year’s global event.

Only one player can claim he has recorded hat tricks in multiple World Cups.

Argentine great Gabriel Batistuta scored 56 times in 78 appearances for La Selección. Ten of those goals came in 12 matches over three World Cups.

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"Batigol" rose to the occasion when on the world stage as he showed after scoring four times at USA '94 and later netting five goals at France '98. His first hat trick came during a 4-0 win over Greece, which saw Diego Maradona score what would be his final World Cup goal.

Four years later, Batistuta did it again in a 5-0 shutout of Jamaica.

Not only did Batistuta record hat tricks in multiple tournaments, he did so with both games falling on June 21, against teams in their first World Cups, and with the final goal coming via a penalty kick.

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Source: “AOL Sports”