The player with the most goals in a World Cup has passed away

According to information from his family, Fontaine died on the afternoon of March 1 in Toulouse, France. His two former clubs, Stade de Reims and PSG, both offered their condolences.

Fontaine was born in Morocco in 1933, into a family of a French father and a Spanish mother. At the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, he scored 13 goals. To date, this is still the best goal score of a player at a World Cup.

Fontaine started the tournament that year with six goals in three games against Paraguay, the former Yugoslavia and Scotland in the group stage. He added two more goals in the quarter-final win over Northern Ireland 4–0, one goal in the semi-final defeat by Brazil 2–5. In the bronze medal match against West Germany 7-3, Fontaine scored four goals.

Fontaine's record is two more goals than that of second-placed Sandor Kocsis with 11 goals at the 1954 World Cup. The following players include: Gerd Muller with 10 goals at the 1970 World Cup, Eusebio with nine at the World Cup. The 1966 World Cup, Ademir with nine goals at the 1950 World Cup, Guillermo Stabile with eight goals at the 1930 World Cup, Ronaldo Nazario with eight goals at the 2002 World Cup and Kylian Mbappe with eight goals at the 2022 World Cup.

Fontaine only attended one World Cup. He ranks fourth in total goals across World Cups, behind Gerd Muller (14), Ronaldo Nazario (15) and Miroslav Klose (16).

Fontaine had to retire at the age of 28, due to injury. He scored a total of 30 goals in 21 matches for France.

At club level, Fontaine has won one Ligue 1 and one French Cup with Nice, three Ligue 1, one French Cup and two French Super Cups with Reims. In the 1958-1959 season, he and Reims reached the Champions League final and lost 0-2 to Real Madrid. After retiring, Fontaine worked as a coach for PSG, Toulouse and Morocco.

In 2003, the French Football Federation selected Fontaine as the best player in French football for 50 years. A year later, "King of Football" Pele included him in the list of 125 greatest living footballers.

"Just Fontaine's passing leaves a deep sadness to French football. He has written one of the most beautiful pages in the history of the French national team," said Acting President of the French Football Federation (FFF) Philippe Diallo in a statement announcing Fontaine's death. died.

In tribute to the legend they call the "immortal scorer", the FFF decided to take a minute for the audience to applaud Fontaine at every French football match this week, starting with the matches in the National Cup. today 1/3.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino called Fontaine "a football icon" and "one of the greatest players ever to play in the World Cup". "13 goals in a World Cup is a record that has not been reached by anyone else and will probably never be broken. My condolences to the Just family for the pain and loss. this big," added Infantino.