American teenager Matthew Hoppe scored three goals to end Schalke 04’s 30-game winning streak, inspiring a 4-0 victory over Hoffenheim.
Schalke’s last victory was 2-0 over Borussia Mönchengladbach on January 17, 2020. The German side entered the match knowing that anything but a victory would tie them to the all-time record with no wins in the German top flight, established by amateur Tasmania Berlin side in 1965-66.
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But Hoppe, 19, assured that Schalke would not go into history books by becoming the first American to score three goals in the Bundesliga and the third to do so in any of the top five European leagues.
“I don’t know how to feel. I’m excited, I’m happy that the team won and that I contributed to it,” said the California native.
He follows in the footsteps of Clint Dempsey, who scored a treble in Fulham’s 5-2 win over Newcastle United in 2012, and Christian Pulisic, whose hat trick also came in the Premier League during Chelsea’s 4-2 win. at Burnley in 2019.
Hoppe is the youngest American to score three goals in a single match in Europe’s top five leagues.
This was Hoppe’s sixth appearance for Schalke and his third match. Having joined the Barcelona academy in 2019, he spent his first season at Schalke with the club’s under-19 team, where he scored five goals in 20 official matches.
This season, Hoppe started the attack on reserves before being promoted to the starting lineup in November. Starting with a 4-1 defeat at Borussia Monchengladbach on 28 November, he then made two brief appearances as a substitute when Schalke’s situation worsened at the end of the year.
He returned to the starting lineup in the first game of the new coach, Christian Gross, in charge, on January 2, but remained goalless in four games in the lead.
However, against Hoffenheim, Hoppe opened his account for the Royal Blues in style with a beautiful pass on goalkeeper Oliver Baumann in the 42nd minute.
Hoppe then added two more in the second half to give Schalke a historic and unexpected victory before Amine Harit scored a fourth at the end.
With seven points from 15 games, Schalke is back in the race to avoid relegation.
“It gives some confidence, some momentum,” said Hoppe. “We have 19 games left and, hopefully, we can continue with the victories and stay on top in the top flight.”
Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie, who spent five seasons at Schalke before moving to Italy in the summer, posted a video on his Instagram celebrating his former team’s victory.