Haiti's World Cup defender Hannes Delcroix gets hat trick in win for Swiss league leader Lugano
Lugano's Hannes Delcroix celebrates after scoring during the Swiss Super League football match between FC Lausanne-Sport and FC Lugano on Sunday, September 20, 2026, in Lausanne, Switzerland. Credit: AP/CYRIL ZINGARO
LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Haiti’s World Cup defender Hannes Delcroix scored a quick-fire hat trick to lift Swiss league leader Lugano to another win Sunday and almost double his career goals tally.
The 27-year-old Delcroix had scored just four times in club soccer before getting three goals between the 35th and 52nd minutes in a 4-0 win at last-place Lausanne. His two headers and a left-foot shot all came from crosses at set-pieces.
In Delcroix’s first full season in the Swiss league, Lugano is six points clear after nine rounds and averaging three goals per game in chasing the club’s first title since 1949.
Delcroix played every minute of Haiti’s three games at the World Cup in June, losing to Scotland, Brazil and Morocco. It was the island team's first World Cup for 52 years.
The Haiti-born center back had switched national eligibility last October from Belgium, where he grew up. Delcroix represented Belgium at youth level and played one friendly for the senior team in 2020 against Switzerland.
Delcroix previously played for Anderlecht and Burnley when both were coached by Vincent Kompany, who is now at German champion Bayern Munich.
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