First hat-trick scored by a football (soccer) player in the Japanese J. League

On 16 May 1993, Brazilian legend Zico scored three times during Kashima Antlers' 5–0 defeat of Nagoya Grampus Eight at the Kashima Soccer Stadium in Kashima, Japan. It was the first hat-trick recorded in the then-fledgling league, which had seen its opening fixtures played the previous day. The 40-year-old Zico, who had come out of retirement to play for Kashima, went on to earn the nickname "God of Football" among Japanese fans.