Gabriel Batistuta
Centre-Forward · Fiorentina · Argentina
About Gabriel Batistuta
Gabriel Batistuta — "Batigol" or "The Lion King" — is Argentina's greatest centre-forward and holds the record for most goals by an Argentine international (54, now surpassed by Messi). He is the only player to have scored hat-tricks in two separate World Cups. He spent most of his career at Fiorentina, becoming one of the most beloved players in the club's history, before a big-money move to Roma in 2000.
Gabriel Batistuta's story
Reconquista's Lion
Batistuta grew up in Reconquista, a small city in Santa Fe province, and played basketball before football. He was initially a slow developer but his physical power and finishing made him impossible to ignore. Fiorentina signed him in 1991 and he became one of the defining figures of 1990s Serie A.
Florence's Love Affair
Batistuta spent nine years at Fiorentina — a club that was never the richest or most powerful in Italy — and turned down bigger clubs repeatedly to remain. His 168 goals for the Viola made him the most beloved player in Fiorentina's history. When he finally left for Roma in 2000, the city mourned publicly. He cried at his farewell press conference. So did many fans in Florence (ITA).
World Cup Records
He scored hat-tricks at both the 1994 and 1998 World Cups — the only player to achieve this in two separate tournaments. His right-foot shot was considered the hardest of any player in Serie A throughout the 1990s. He later said recurring ankle pain in retirement was so severe that he considered amputation — a claim that shocked the football world.
Did you know?
- ⚽ He is the only player in history to have scored hat-tricks at two separate World Cups — in 1994 (against Greece) and 1998 (against Jamaica) — a record that has never been matched.
- 💔 When he left Fiorentina for Roma in 2000 after 9 years, he cried at his farewell press conference. Fiorentina fans were seen weeping in the streets of Florence. It is football's most emotional club departure.
- 👨👩👧👦 Married Irina Fernández in 1990; they have three sons. He lived in Qatar for several years and later settled in Italy, the country where he is most revered.
- 🦶 He told a newspaper in 2013 that recurring ankle pain in retirement was so severe that he had considered amputation — a comment that shocked and saddened the football world.
- 📊 He scored 54 international goals for Argentina — the national record at the time of his retirement, surpassed only by Lionel Messi decades later.
- 🌟 Roberto Mancini — who played alongside him at Fiorentina — said: "Batistuta had the most powerful shot I ever saw. In training you could hear it from outside the stadium. In games it was different class."
- 🏟️ Fiorentina named a stand at the Stadio Artemio Franchi after Batistuta — the only foreign player to have a permanent honour at a Serie A stadium during the modern era.
- 🤝 He captained Argentina at the 1998 World Cup and was Argentina's most important player despite Diego Maradona's presence in football's broader consciousness.
- 🌍 He moved to Argentina's interior after retiring — returning to Reconquista to farm and live simply, shunning the endorsement and media circuit entirely. He said: "Football was my job. This is my life."
Honours
- Serie A: Roma (2001)
- Coppa Italia x2: Fiorentina (1996, 2001)
- Copa América: Argentina (1991, 1993)
- World Cup Hat-Trick x2: 1994 and 1998 — only player to score WC hat-tricks in two tournaments
- Argentine All-Time Top Scorer (record at time): 54 goals — surpassed only by Messi
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