Bert Patenaude was an American professional soccer forward who scored the very first hat-trick in FIFA World Cup history on July 17, 1930, in Uruguay, leading the United States to a historic third-place finish.
Bertram Albert Patenaude was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, on November 4, 1909. Growing up in a hotbed of early American soccer, he signed his first professional contract at age nineteen with the Philadelphia Field Club in 1928 before starring for his hometown Fall River Marksmen in the American Soccer League (ASL), winning multiple league championships and National Challenge Cups.
Selected for the United States men’s national soccer team for the inaugural 1930 FIFA World Cup in Montevideo, Uruguay, Patenaude etched his name permanently into global sporting lore. In the group stage match on July 17, 1930, against Paraguay at the Estadio Gran Parque Central, Patenaude scored in the 10th, 15th, and 50th minutes of the United States’ 3–0 triumph. On November 10, 2006, FIFA officially confirmed Patenaude as the scorer of the first hat-trick in World Cup history.
Patenaude finished the 1930 tournament with four goals, powering the United States to the World Cup semi-finals and securing a historic third-place tournament finish—still the best result by any team from outside Europe and South America. Over his club career, he scored 170 goals in 224 games and was inducted into the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1971. He died on his 65th birthday, November 4, 1974, in Fall River.
Notable Achievements & Works
- Scored the first hat-trick in FIFA World Cup history (USA vs Paraguay, July 17, 1930)
- Led the United States to 3rd place in the inaugural 1930 FIFA World Cup in Uruguay
- Scored 170 career goals in 224 professional matches in the American Soccer League
- Won three National Challenge Cups with Fall River Marksmen and St. Louis Central Breweries
- Inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame (1971)
