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“Beating my record? I don't think it can ever be done.” Those were the words of Just Fontaine, former Nice, Reims and France striker. For a footballer to be that confident about something he achieved, not only does he have to be one of the best, but the record he holds must also be pretty special. Even then, given how records are being broken left, right and centre these days, the air of confidence that surrounded his words was still a sight to behold.
For all the advancements in technologies, sports science and the way the game has evolved over the years, football is still a very simple game. The team that puts the ball in the back of the net more often than the other wins the game. Although the game has become a lot more technical and has seen the rise of a lot of new positions, one role still remains the same. Whilst the names might have gotten a lot fancier, the job of the striker is still to put the ball in the net and help his side win games by scoring goals.
The 1958 World Cup saw the rise of a striker that would take the World Cup by storm and etch his place into the annals of football folklore. While it was Pelé who guided Brazil to their maiden World Cup, he wasn’t the striker who made all the headlines throughout the tournament. Instead it was a young, unfancied Frenchman who had only played two games for his country before the start of the World Cup that made all the heads turn in Sweden.
Just Fontaine came into the World Cup as the leading goal scorer in France and after helping his club Reims to a League and Cup double in the 1957/58. Although there was a sense of doom and gloom about the national side who came to Sweden, Fontaine and his Real Madrid-bound teammate, Raymond Kopa were two players on whom the nation had very high hopes.
Short, stocky but blessed with a supernatural awareness inside the penalty area, Fontaine had all the quintessential qualities to become a top-class striker. And to top it all off, he had Raymond Kopa, a number 10 par excellence as his supply line. Their partnership, although short-lived, were the stuff of legends and excited one and all in Sweden. The duo had developed an almost telepathic understanding and a French side that was dismissed before the tournament finished third, with Fontaine finishing as the top scorer with 13 goals in what would be his only World Cup appearance.
His 13 goals in a single World Cup beat Sandor Kocsis’s record of 11 in 1954 and meant that he become the leading goal scorer in the history of the World Cup. More than 50 years on from that summer in Sweden, Fontaine still sits in fourth place on the all-time leading goal scorer’s charts with only Ronaldo (Brazil), Gerd Muller and Miroslav Klose (both Germany) having scored more than him. In fact, only one player (Ronaldo in 2002) has even scored half as many as “Justo” did in 1958.
Even though Fontaine was the leading scorer in France in 1958, he almost didn’t make it at all. In fact, he was only a last-minute call-up to the squad and had played just once for Les Bleus after scoring a hat-trick on his international debut in an 8-0 rout of Luxembourg in 1953. And it was only thanks to an injury to his club mate and fellow striker René Bliard in a warm-up match that Fontaine even made it to the starting XI.
But, once he got his opportunity, Fontaine took it with both hands, as he gorged on the passes provided by the excellent Kopa. Fontaine started his goal scoring exploits with a hat-trick in an unexpected 7-3 demolition of Paraguay in the opening encounter. He then scored two in a 3-2 defeat against Yugoslavia and one more in the 2-1 win over Scotland that put France into the quarter-finals.
He scored a brace again, in the 4-0 win over Northern Ireland in the quarter-finals, which set up a semi-final clash against the favourites Brazil. Vavá’s goal in the second minute gave Brazil the lead but Fontaine was there again seven minutes later, to equalise for the French. But an injury to French captain, Robert Jonquet meant that Les Bleus ended up playing the entire second half with just 10 men and were thoroughly trounced.
All of which meant that Fontaine went into the third-place playoff against defending champions West Germany knowing that he needed three goals to overtake Kocsis’s record of 11 goals in a single World Cup. Fortunately for the French and for Fontaine, the Germans proved to be obliging opponents as Fontaine scored four and kept up his record of scoring in every game to finish with 13- a record that stands to this very day.
His remarkable goal scoring feats are all the more surprising when you consider the fact that he wasn’t even playing in his own boots. After breaking his boots in training, he had to borrow a pair from his teammate Stephane Bruey in order to continue playing. In Fontaine’s own words, “a meeting of two minds inside one boot” meant that he helped an unfancied French side to third in the 1958 World Cup.
Back in those days, there wasn’t even a formal presentation of a Golden Boot and Fontaine had to make do with Air Rife from a local newspaper. Unperturbed by that, Fontaine continued his goal scoring ways even after the World Cup leading the French goal scoring charts in 1960.
Unfortunately for France and for Fontaine, the slice luck that ensured he played in 1958 went against him as a series of recurring injuries meant that he had to quit football aged just 29. He played his last game for France in 1960 against Bulgaria before a couple of serious leg injuries forced him out of the game for good.
And just like that, France’s most prolific striker wasn’t there anymore. Fontaine scored an astonishing 30 goals in 21 games for France averaging a far-from believable 1.43 goals per game – the highest of any footballer with 30 international goals. His record in competitive internationals is even better as he scored 21 times in just 10 games averaging a mindboggling 2.1 goals per game.
Although he was forced to retire young, for three majestic weeks in summer of 1958, Fontaine showed the world just how good he was. And for that alone, he will forever be fondly remembered by every French football fan including this one.
