Jyoti Chauhan is the First Ever Indian Footballer to Score Hattrick in Europe for Croatian Top Division League

Jyoti Chauhan of Dinamo Zagreb club creates history in the Croatian Women’s League by scoring a hattrick in Europe. She is the first-ever Indian footballer to do so.

Written by: Arjita Gupta

Edited by: Krutarth Ghosalkar

Last Updated: 2023-05-23 07:51:35

Jyoti Chauhan is an Indian woman footballer and a former Gokulam Kerala FC player who made history in Croatia as she scored a hattrick against ZNK Agram in Europe, the first-ever for India in the Indian Women’s League (IWL). The feat was carved in the final league game in the Croatian Women’s League of the season on Sunday. Jyoti Chauhan scored the goals in the series, from the 28^th minute to the 37^th and 46^th. The 23-year-old helped the team win cohesively with an impressive 4-1.

She is also the only Indian footballer to have scored in March this year for Croatian Top Division League. Her first goal came against Rijeka, where the club won the match. Jyoti scored in the 89^th minute and Zagreb won that particular match 4-0. That was her starting point, and henceforth she became a regular participant in the playing XI. Soumya Guguloth is a national team player for India. Jyoti Chauhan is Soumya’s GKFC teammate.

They both received a contract in the topmost league in Croatia. They are the first Indian women players to get this opportunity. After a successful trial in Croatia, ZNK Dinamo Zagreb club took them aboard for a year-long contract. Also, Jyoti and Soumya are the first-ever footballers to play internationally for the Croatian club. As for Croatian League, Dinamo Zagreb has 46 trophies under its belt and is known as one of the most successful clubs.

The men’s team has competed in the 20222-23 UEFA Champions League group stage in football with popular clubs such as Chelsea and AC Milan. Jyoti was just 12 years old when she lost her father. She belongs to Sardarpur (Dhar) a small village in Madhya Pradesh. Her mother runs the family by working as an agricultural laborer.