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Scoring outbursts in the FIFA World Cup. In the last three World Cups, the top goalscorer put up six or fewer goals. Over the previous 12 World Cup tournaments, only two players have scored more than six goals; Polish Grzegorz Lato, seven goals in 1974, and Brazilian Ronaldo, eight in Korea Japan 2002, but that is not the norm during World Cup competition, there are tremendous goalscoring numbers in past contests.
After 14 games played in Russia and 32 goals scored overall, three players scored braces, and another striker netted a hat-trick. In Brazil 2014, after 14 games played, the goal tally was at 44. Up to that point, four players scored braces, and one player scored a hat-trick.
In World Cup history, only three players scored at least ten goals during one competition. 48 years passed by since the last time a player scored ten goals under the World Cup umbrella. Let's take a look into the three players topping the table for more goals scored in a single World Cup.
#1 Just Fontaine (France, 1958)
During the sixth World Cup in history, French striker Just Fontaine had the biggest goalscoring outburst ever seen. The Stade de Reims forward accounted for 13 of France's 23 goals in the competition.
Fontaine's record remains intact at the top of this list 60 years and 14 World Cups later. The French forward scored in each of the six games he played in the tournament. Also, he is one of three players who managed to have two matches of at least three goals in a single World Cup.
Fontaine played only the 1958 World Cup because of an injury-plagued career. His World Cup stats are 13 goals in 6 games, with a 2.17 goal-per-game ratio.
The resume of Fontaine's goals in the 1958 contest is:
Hat-trick versus Paraguay in the first matchday of the group stage
Brace in a loss against Yugoslavia in the second matchday
A goal versus Scotland in the last matchday
Brace against Northern Ireland in the quarterfinals
A goal in a loss versus Brazil in the semifinals
Four goals in France's 6-3 win over Germany for third place.
Fontaine scored more goals in the tournament than the two best Brazilians Pelé (6 goals), and Vavá (5). But the Canarinha strikers outplayed Fontaine during the semifinals when Brazil defeated France 5-2 with a hat-trick by Pelé and one goal from Vavá.
In fact, Fontaine scored more goals than runner-up Sweden (12 goals) and fourth place Germany (12). France was the team with most goals scored with 23 but had the worst defense with 15 goals received.
The Frenchman's prolific World Cup career was his biggest highlight, however, it is not the only one. Fontaine was a prominent figure for Stade de Reims, winning four Ligue 1 titles, and a couple of French Cups. He scored 145 goals in 152 games for Reims. During Reims' runner-up effort in the 1958/59 European Cup, Fontaine was the leading goalscorer of the championship with ten, but his squad lost the final versus Real Madrid in Stutt.
Internationally, many defenses could not handle Fontaine's attacking explosiveness. During the 1960 European Championship qualifiers with and the tournament's final stage with France, Fontaine scored 8 goals in 4 matches. Overall, the striker put up 30 goals in just 21 games.
#2 Sándor Kocsis (Hungary, 1954)
Hungarian forward Sándor Kocsis was Hungary's goalscoring machine in its runner-up effort in the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland. Kocsis scored 11 goals in five games during the contest.
Playing alongside prolific striker Ferenc Puskás, Kocsis was a crucial part during Hungary's run to the final. The Magnificent Magyars scored at least four goals before getting into the tournament's final. The Hungarian squad scored 25 goals in the four games before its 3-2 loss to Germany in the final, a match commonly known as The Miracle of Bern.
Kocsis' brilliant effort in the tournament started early after the Hungarian scored a hat-trick in a 9-0 victory against South Korea in the first match day. His run continued in the second game of the group stage when he put up a four-goal effort in Hungary's 8-3 triumph over Germany.
Kocsis is one of two players to have consecutive games with at least three goals, and the first to do it. The Hungarian forward followed his fantastic group stage with braces in the quarterfinals and the semifinals. His two goals in the semifinals versus Uruguay were in the extra time and clinched a spot in the final for Hungary.
In Hungary's 3-2 loss to Germany in the final, Kocsis was not a prominent factor.
Kocsis participated only in the 1954 World Cup. His stat line is 11 goals in five games and a 2.20 goal-per-game ratio, the highest by any player with at least five goals in the World Cup.
#3 Gerd Müller / Germany / 1970
Gerd Müller's historical performance in the World Cup started in México 1970. The legendary German striker opened up his illustrious World Cup career with a superb 10-goal tally for his National Team.
Müller was the third player to reach at least 10 goals in a single tournament and the last to do it, so far. Müller scored one goal in Germany's win against Morocco in the first matchday; then, he became the second player to score consecutive hat-tricks in the World Cup, after Sándor Kocsis in 1954.
Germany faced England in the quarterfinals and Müller scored the game-winning goal in the extra time to give his national team a semifinals spot. In the round of four, Müller scored once again in the extra time, but his brace was not enough to defeat Italy and advance to the championship game. Müller played 90 minutes in the match for the third place against Uruguay but was not able to equal Kocsis' 11-goal tally nor get close to Fontaine's 13 in 1958.
Müller is the only player in World Cup history to score at least ten goals in a single tournament and win the championship, although his side won the World Cup in 1974 when he scored the game-winner against the Netherlands in the final.
