Franco Mastantuono Breaks Messi's Record with Hat-Trick in Venice
Franco Mastantuono needed just one night in Venice to step out of Lionel Messi’s shadow and write his own line in Argentine football history.
The Fiorentina winger struck a hat-trick in the 4-2 win at Venezia, becoming the youngest Argentine ever to score three in a game in one of Europe’s top five leagues. The record had belonged to Messi for almost two decades.
On Friday, Mastantuono was 19 years and 28 days old. That makes him 231 days younger than Messi was when he produced his first hat-trick for Barcelona on 10 March 2007. In Messi’s favour, of course, that treble came in a Clasico against Real Madrid. But the numbers are the numbers: the crown has changed hands.
A game turned on its head in 98 seconds
Fiorentina’s night did not begin like a record-breaker. They trailed 1-0 at half-time and looked every inch a side still searching for their first points of the Serie A season.
Then Mastantuono exploded.
Within 98 seconds early in the second half, the right winger had turned the match on its head with a rapid double, dragging Fiorentina from 0-1 down to 2-1 up almost single-handedly. Venezia staggered. Florence suddenly believed again.
The pressure kept building, and in the 84th minute the Argentine finished the job. His third goal finally killed off the contest, pushing Fiorentina into a 4-1 lead. Venezia’s late reply only trimmed the score to 4-2. The result stood as Fiorentina’s first win of the new campaign – and their first points of any kind.
Vanoli back, Grosso gone
Mastantuono rightly dominated the headlines, but this night also belonged to Paolo Vanoli.
The coach had kept Fiorentina in Serie A last season, only to be replaced in the summer by 2006 World Cup winner Fabio Grosso. The gamble backfired quickly. Grosso’s reign produced three straight defeats and a goal difference of 1:9. The club acted fast, dismissed him, and brought Vanoli back to the dugout in Florence this past week.
His return delivered an immediate jolt. Organisation, belief, and a 19-year-old Argentine tearing through Venezia’s back line.
Madrid’s €45m project suddenly erupts
Behind the purple shirt, there is another storyline: Real Madrid’s investment.
Mastantuono joined Real Madrid from River Plate in 2025 for €45 million. Until now, his numbers in Spain had been modest: 35 appearances in all competitions, averaging 42 minutes per game, with three goals and one assist. Useful, but hardly the eruption many expected when Los Blancos pushed so hard – and paid so much – to get him.
So Madrid sent him on loan to Italy until next summer, hoping regular football would sharpen his edges.
In Venice, it looked like the switch finally clicked. Three goals, a record taken from Messi, and a Fiorentina side jolted awake. For €45 million, Real Madrid bought potential. In Florence, that potential just announced itself to Europe.
