Just Fontaine
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Just Fontaine (born August 18, 1933 in Marrakech, French Morocco) is a former French football player. He holds the record for most goals scored in a single FIFA World Cup finals tournament, with 13 in 1958. He has also scored the third most goals of any player in the world cup finals overall, beaten only by: Gerd Müller who played in two world cup finals tournaments and scored 14 goals and Ronaldo who has played in four and has scored 15 goals.
Fontaine began his professional career at USM Casablanca, where he played from 1950 to 1953. Nice recruited him in 1953, and he went on to score 44 goals in three seasons for the club. In 1956, he moved on to Stade de Reims to replace Raymond Kopa, where he scored 121 goals in six seasons. In total, Fontaine scored 165 goals in 200 matches in the Ligue 1, and twice won the championship; in 1958 and 1960.
Wearing the blue shirt of France, Fontaine's statistics are even more impressive. On his debut with the team on December 17, 1953, Fontaine scored a hat trick as France defeated Luxembourg 8-0. In seven years, he scored 30 goals in 21 matches for the national team. However, Fontaine will best be remembered for his 1958 FIFA World Cup performance, where he scored 13 goals in just six matches - a feat which included putting four past the holders West Germany. This tally secured him the Golden Boot for that tournament.
Fontaine played his last match in July 1962, being forced to retire early because of a recurring injury. He briefly managed the French national team in 1967, but was replaced after only two games, both friendlies that ended in defeats.
He was named by Pelé as one of the 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004. He was chosen as the best French player of the last 50 years by the French Football Federation in the UEFA Jubilee Awards in November 2003 [1].
| Preceded by: Sándor Kocsis |
FIFA World Cup Golden Shoe 1958 |
Succeeded by: Leonel Sánchez, Garrincha, Vavá, Valentin Ivanov, Flórián Albert and Dražan Jerković |
