Franco Mastantuono Breaks Messi's Hat-Trick Record in Venice
Franco Mastantuono didn’t just light up Venice. He rewrote a page of Argentine football history and nudged Lionel Messi out of a record he had guarded for almost two decades.
The 19-year-old Fiorentina winger, on loan from Real Madrid, became the youngest Argentine ever to score a hat-trick in one of Europe’s top five leagues, overtaking Messi’s mark from 2007. Mastantuono was 19 years and 28 days old on Friday night – 231 days younger than Messi was when he hit his first treble for Barcelona.
Messi did his in a Clásico against Real Madrid. Mastantuono did his in a survival fight for a club that had forgotten how to win.
A record night in Venice
Fiorentina went in at half-time trailing 1-0 at Venezia, the same familiar sinking feeling hanging over a team without a single point this Serie A season. Then Mastantuono exploded.
Within 98 seconds of the restart, the Argentine had turned the game on its head with a rapid double, dragging Fiorentina from 0-1 down to 2-1 up almost single-handedly. Venezia never really recovered from the shock.
As the clock ticked into the 84th minute and nerves threatened to creep in, Mastantuono struck again. His third goal pushed Fiorentina out to 4-1, effectively killing the contest and sealing his hat-trick. Venezia pulled one back, but the 4-2 final scoreline brought something far more important to Florence than style points: their first win, and their first points, of the new Serie A campaign.
Vanoli back, and vindicated
The spotlight naturally fell on Mastantuono, but this night also belonged to Paolo Vanoli.
Vanoli had kept Fiorentina in the division last season, only to be replaced in the summer by 2006 World Cup winner Fabio Grosso. The gamble backfired almost immediately. Grosso’s reign lasted just three league games: three defeats, a grim goal difference of 1:9, and no sign of a coherent team.
The club reacted quickly. Grosso was dismissed, Vanoli was recalled to the bench this past week, and his second spell started with a statement win – built on the boots of a teenager who suddenly looks ready for the European stage.
Madrid’s €45m question
Mastantuono’s explosion in Italy throws fresh light on his situation at Real Madrid.
Los Blancos paid €45 million to sign him from River Plate in 2025, a fee that underlined the weight of expectation around the youngster. Yet his first steps in Spain were modest: 35 appearances in all competitions, averaging just 42 minutes per game, with three goals and one assist. Flashes of talent, but nothing to justify the hype.
Now, in Florence, he has matched that entire Madrid goal tally in a single evening.
He remains on loan at Fiorentina until next summer. If nights like Venice become a habit rather than a one-off, Madrid’s €45m investment may soon look less like a gamble and more like a bargain – and Fiorentina will know they only get to enjoy this version of Mastantuono for a little while longer.
