France's record World Cup scorer Just Fontaine breathed his last aged 89 on Wednesday. The legendary striker is best remembered for scoring 13 goals at the 1958 World Cup, the most goals in a single edition of the marquee event, a record which still remains unmatched and could stay that way for a long time to come.
The news of his death has been confirmed in a report carried by news agency AFP.
All World Cup appearances combined, only three players- Miroslav Klose (16), Ronaldo (15) and Gerd Mueller (14)- have scored more goals than Fontaine's 13 despite the Frenchman appearing in just a single edition and playing six matches. How tough that record can be to break in modern-day football can be gauged from the fact that the The BEST FIFA Men's Player of the year 2022 and seven-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi took five attempts to match his goal-tally, a feat he achieved during Argentina's triumphant campaign in Qatar.
While Fontaine did make that record in the 1958 edition of the competition, that tournament is also remembered for Pele's heroics. It was in fact the 17-year-old Brazilian's hat-trick in the first semi-final which ended France's run as the eventual champions handed Les Bleus a 5-2 defeat in the semi-final.
But that didn't mean it was the last of Fontaine in that World Cup as he scored again and netted as many four goals in the third-place match against West Germany. His performance in this fixture also ensured that he had scored in each of France's match in that tournament.
The eventual record-maker was not the first choice in the French squad that went to Sweden for the quadrennial tournament. It was only injuries to some of France's trusted players that vacated a spot for him to be included in the squad and later into the starting XI.
Years later, Fontaine had revealed that the coaching staff of that French side, who initially were reluctant to get him in the squad, had informed just before leaving for Sweden that he would play in the central forward position.