Hearts star nets international hat-trick after replacing £42m striker.

Landry Kabore became the second Heart of Midlothian player to score a hat-trick on international service in the last week.

A few days after James Wilson scored three goals for Scotland Under-21s either side of halftime in a 12-0 win against Gibraltar, Kabore did the same as a second-half substitution in Burkina Faso’s victory over Ethiopia.

The 24-year-old scored his first treble for his country in a crucial World Cup qualification match. In doing so, he became the first Hearts player to score a hat-trick at full international level, according to Hearts Heritage.

Kabore replaced Brentford’s £42.5 million summer signing Dango Ouattara after an hour against Ethiopia with the score 0-0. It took him three minutes to open the scoring. In the 82nd minute, he scored his second goal after displaying superb agility and box control to create space.

Ethiopia scored a few minutes later, and it appeared to be the game-changer. Kabore, on the other hand, sealed his hat-trick and the victory deep into stoppage time, racing into a through pass before getting around the keeper and shooting it into the net.

Burkina Faso now ranks second in the standings for best runners-up. The four best second-placed teams in the African World Cup qualifiers will compete in a play-off to select Africa’s representative in the intercontinental play-offs, which will be contested in Mexico in March.

Burkina Faso’s spot will be determined by qualifying games on Monday and Tuesday, as will the significance of Kabore’s hat trick.

Kabore’s treble was his fourth in 2025, having previously scored three for FK Trans Narva before joining Hearts. The athlete had to wait a long time for the move to be approved and has since made only two appearances.

He was left out of three of the last four games due to competition in the attacking positions.Kabore is seen as a striker by the team, as he scored two goals in a recent bounce game while playing in a 4-4-2 formation.

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