Which footballers have scored most of their career goals in a single match? | The Knowledge

"Last month, Jeremy Ngakia scored twice for Watford against Oxford to take his career goals total to three from 116 senior club appearances. Excluding players who scored only once, has anybody with 100+ appearances managed a higher percentage of their career goals in a single match? wonders Peter Skilton."

"Denis Boone writes in with the tale of Matthieu Chalme. French right-back Chalme played 362 professional matches during his career, mostly for Lille and Bordeaux, Denis writes. He scored four career goals, with three of them coming in a single game. Chalme netted all three goals in Lille's 3-0 win at Ajaccio in March 2004, recording the most unlikely of hat-tricks. Those three well-taken goals in Corsica were the only ones Chalme managed in 179 Lille appearances, while in 167 for Bordeaux, he scored once."

"Well, twice if you count his own goal in the 2010 Coupe de la Ligue final against Marseille. Scoring 75% of his career goals in one game takes Chalme past Ngakia's mark (66.7%), but there is a fly in the ointment. Chalme hung up his boots at Bordeaux in July 2014 after a loan spell at Ajaccio, who presumably recalled his brief purple patch a decade earlier. He did return to football with fifth-tier side Lege Cap-Ferret, playing seven games in six months and scoring one goal. That would drop Chalme's percentage of goals scored in a single game down to 60%, but it feels harsh to penalise him for a post-retirement jaunt at semi-professional level."

Jeremy Ngakia scored twice for Watford against Oxford, taking his career total to three goals from 116 senior club appearances. Matthieu Chalme played 362 professional matches, mostly for Lille and Bordeaux, and scored four career goals, three of which came in Lille's 3-0 win at Ajaccio in March 2004. Those three were his only goals in 179 Lille appearances; he scored once in 167 matches for Bordeaux. A late return to fifth-tier Lege Cap-Ferret yielded one goal in seven games, lowering the proportion of career goals scored in a single match from 75% to 60%. Lilian Thuram scored two international goals in one World Cup semi-final for France.

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