The world’s most expensive player Gareth Bale struck his third goal in as many Euro 2016 games as brilliant Wales cruised into the last 16 as winners of Group B with a clinical 3-0 dismantling of Russia on Monday.
First-half strikes by Aaron Ramsey and Neil Taylor sent Chris Coleman’s men well on their way to a comprehensive win in Toulouse against an overwhelmed Russian side. England also made it into the knockouts after a drab 0-0 against Slovakia.
But Bale was a constant threat all night and grabbed his third goal of the tournament when he cleverly dinked the ball past Igor Akinfeev with the outside of his right boot midway through the second half as Russia were eliminated.
The last players to score in all three group games at a European Championship were Milan Baros for the Czech Republic and Ruud van Nistelrooy for the Netherlands, both in 2004.
The win coupled with a 0-0 draw between England and Slovakia in Saint-Etienne allowed Wales to top the group and set up a last-16 tie in Paris this weekend.
“Fantastic performance,” said Ramsey, who was named as the man of the match.
“We topped the group, which nobody probably would have seen coming. Our main target was to get out the group. You can hear the fans still singing and I think we’ve made them proud.”
Bale, who score 19 goals in 31 appearances for Real Madrid has continued his insane form into Euro 2016.