With 43 days until the World Cup, we revisit Zbigniew Boniek's remarkable hat-trick for Poland against Belgium at the 1982 Spain World Cup.
Poland desperately wanted to finish top of Group 1. If they advanced in first place, they would play their next two games in the evening rather than the afternoon. When Antoni Piechniczek's side won their initial group, hearing they would kick off at 9 PM was music to Polish ears. In Boniek, they had someone whom Juventus owner Gianni Agnelli described as the best player in the world at night, comparing him to a deadly predator who did his hunting after dark.
The predator punished Belgium brutally. Boniek, nicknamed The Beauty of the Night by Henry Kissinger, scored a hat-trick in a 3-0 victory that propelled Poland into the semi-finals. His first goal past Theo Custers was another beauty from the night.
