The World Cup’s most impressive performance, why Just Fontaine broke the goal scoring record and never returned to the tournament
No one in history has had a more dominant World Cup than Just Fontaine. The French striker’s record for goals in a single World Cup may never be broken.
It was the best there ever was. A World Cup for the history books. While the record is likely to never to be broken, the record holder is rarely talked about when we talk about World Cup greats. Just Fontaine is a named that should be universally known to any soccer fan of any age. Just in case you haven’t heard about him, let me share his story.
Not Just any record
Let us start with this. Thirteen goals. In one World Cup. That’s how many goals Just Fontaine scored in the six games he played with France back in the 1958 World Cup. He took the world by storm becoming a soccer legend over that unforgettable month and a half in Sweden. As quickly as the star was born that summer, the star dimmed on the World Cup stage. That would be his only World Cup campaign but he still sits in the top five of all time goal scorers despite playing just one edition of the tournament.
Since then West Germany’s Gerd Muller topped the Frenchman’s 13 goals scored, but he needed two World Cups (1970 and 1974) and 13 matches to score his then record 14 goals. Ronaldo would top Muller with his 15 goals in four World Cups from 1994 to 2006 in which he would play 19 matches. Miroslav Klose took the goal scoring record from the Brazilian in 2014 and has held on to it since, scoring 16 goals in 24 matches over four World Cups.
The French Moroccan born striker got his first call up to the French national team in 1953, but didn’t go to the World Cup in 1954 because he was yet to explode onto the scene with then club Nice. He spent three years at Nice from 1953-1956, and by the time he was transferred by Reims he was a star. The 1958 World Cup came calling and Fontaine was an obvious choice for manager Albert Batteux.
Fontaine, France fall short in 58
Fontaine started his first and only World Cup campaign with a bang, netting a hat trick in the opener against Paraguay. They would be the South American side 7-3 before losing to Yugoslavia 3-2. Fontaine had both goals in the loss on matchday two, and would score one more to wrap up group stages with a 2-1 win over Scotland.
France reached the knockout round with their number 9 flying high. In the quarters Fontaine scored another brace as France beat Northern Ireland 4-0 to book a spot in the semis. Their World Cup run would end against Brazil when they were handed a 5-2 loss in the semis. Fontaine scored a goal, but was outdone by a Pele who scored a semifinal hat trick as Brazil would go on to win the World Cup that year.
Fontaine ended his historic summer with a four goal performance in the third place game against West Germany to finish his only World Cup with 13 goals in six matches. He is still tied on the all time list with Lionel Messi who has scored 13 goals in 26 matches. Fontaine would never return to another World Cup. In 1960 he suffered a devastating double fracture to his leg, and would never be the same. He played for another couple years but retired in July of 1962
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