When you think of legends of the USMNT you think of Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey and Christian Pulisic. The later is still writing his chapter in the history books of the national team, but none of these players ever did what Bert Patenaude did in the first World Cup ever played back in 1930.

Patenaude punishes Paraguay

It was July 17th, and the United States were playing their second group stage match against Paraguay after beating Belgium 3-0 to open their tournament. Patenaude had already scored a goal against Belgium, but he would do something that would instantly make him a World Cup legend for centuries to come.

The Fall River, Massachusetts native made history by scoring the first ever hat-trick in a World Cup match. He opened his account against Paraguay in the 10th minute, and would add another just five minutes later. The then 20 year old would close the door on Paraguay with a third goal in the 50th minute, and become a icon in US, and soccer folklore for the rest of time.

He was the first hat-trick hero in a World Cup, and the only one to ever do it representing the red white and blue. Since then there have been 54 hat-tricks scored, including one just two days after Patenaude scored his. Guillermo Stabile just missed out on becoming the first player to score a hat-trick when he led Argentina to a 6-3 win over Mexico on July 19th.

Patenaude the first, Dembélé the last

At the time, Patenaude was a dangerous goal scorer, but many people believed he wasn’t the US team’s best available striker. That title belonged to Archie Stark, but Stark passed on the 18-day steam boat ride to Uruguay to join a European tour that was considered more prestigious than the then unknown tournament. “Patenaude was a good center forward,” he was quoted in Tony Cirino’s book, U.S. Soccer vs. the World. “But the World Cup wasn’t a big thing in those days. A trip to Europe was better than a trip to South America.”

After the two game group stage, the U.S. team advanced to the semifinals of the World Cup, but were blown out by Argentina in a 6-1 drubbing. Argentina would move on to the final where they were eventually beaten by host country Uruguay to claimed the first World Cup title. The U.S. side finished third in a tournament of 13 teams, and that remains the best performance by a U.S. team ever.

Since then, the best the USMNT has done in a World Cup is reaching the quarterfinals in 2002. That year Landon Donovan and Brian McBride led the States past the group stages and set up a rivalry match against Mexico. They beat their neighbors to the south 2-0 in the Round of 16 and met Germany in the quarters. Michael Ballack scored the lone goal to advance the Germans to the next round and keep the Americans from a semifinal return after more than 70 years.

The first hat-trick ever scored came from Patenaude, while Ousmane Dembélé scored the most recent hat-trick in the 2026 World Cup. In this edition of the World Cup Messi and Jonathan David join Dembélé as hat-trick scorers in 2026.

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