Cristiano Ronaldo scored his third successive hat-trick as Portugal defeated Armenia

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick for the third game in a row

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his third successive hat-trick as Portugal defeated Armenia
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Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick for the third game in a row as Portugal came from behind to beat Armenia in Euro 2016 qualifying Group I.

It extended Ronaldo's record European Championship goals tally to 26.

The 30-year-old equalised with a penalty in Yerevan after Armenia had taken a surprise lead.

He then scored twice in three minutes after half-time, his last goal a superb 25-yard shot into the top corner to seal all three points.

It was Ronaldo's ninth hat-trick of the season and followed trebles for Real Madrid against Espanyol and Getafe in the last two games of the Spanish league campaign.

He has scored a total of 66 goals in all competitions for club and country this season.

The victory moved Portugal five points clear of their nearest challengers Denmark and Albania at the top of their group.

Ronaldo might have hit the headlines with another treble but it was by no means the only hat-trick of the day in Euro 2016 qualifying - or the quickest.

That honour belonged to Robert Lewandowski who struck the second fastest hat-trick ever in European Championship qualifying inside four minutes as Poland overcame Georgia 4-0.

The 26-year-old Bayern Munich striker made it 2-0 in the 89th minute after Arkadiusz Milik had broken the deadlock.

He then grabbed his second in the 92nd minute and completed a remarkable treble in the third minute of stoppage time to leave Poland one point clear of nearest rivals Germany at the top of Group D.

"Poland were like a machine and this team can achieve a lot," admitted Georgia manager Kakhaber Tskhadadze.

Germany hit seven

On a day of hat-tricks, former Chelsea player Andre Schurrle also scored three as world champions Germany won 7-0 away to Gibraltar.

The Wolfsburg forward claimed the only goal of the first half after Bastian Schweinsteiger had an early penalty saved by Jordan Perez.

Schurrle grabbed two more, Max Kruse hit a double and Ilkay Gundogan and Karim Bellarabi also got on the scoresheet for the Germans, who registered 30 attempts in total.

Credit: BBC Sports

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