France striker Just Fontaine astonishingly hit 13 goals in six games at Sweden 1958 – a record for one World Cup. He is followed by Hungary’s Sandor Kocsis (11 goals in 1954), West Germany’s Gerd Muller (10 in 1970), Brazil’s Ademir de Menezes (9 in 1950) and Portugal’s Eusebio (9 in 1966).
Fontaine, against orders, only took one pair of boots to Scandinavia because he didn’t expect to play. Multiple injuries nonetheless forced Albert Batteux to select him for their opener against Paraguay. Fontaine’s ecstasy quickly turned to agony when, in their final training session, he ripped one of his boots. “I was devastated,” Fontaine recalled. “I thought my chance could be gone.”
Only one player shared Fontaine’s shoe size. It was a man competing with him for a place up front. Stephane Bruey saved the day, however, graciously lending his boots.
In them, ‘Justo’ hit a hat-trick against Paraguay, a brace against Yugoslavia, the winner against Scotland, another double against Northern Ireland, a goal against Brazil, and a quadruple that inspired France to victory over West Germany in the third-place play-off. It left Fontaine having averaged a goal every 42 minutes at the tournament.
Just platinum
Top goalscorers in one World Cup
