Fontaine, who participated in the Sweden World Cup by chance, has passed away but his achievement still stands.

Kylian Mbappé led France's attack in the 2026 World Cup with high efficiency, deservedly winning the Golden Boot for the second consecutive tournament by scoring ten goals, taking his total World Cup tally to twenty-two goals and topping the all-time World Cup scorers list.

However, Mbappé, whose team finished fourth in the tournament, could not reach the record of his compatriot Just Fontaine, who scored 13 goals in a single edition at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden with only 16 teams participating.

FIFA honored Fontaine in 2014 with a unique platinum shoe in recognition of his exceptional achievement (Getty)

With the expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams, adding an entire stage compared to previous editions, which gave top strikers like Mbappé, Argentina's Lionel Messi, England's Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham, and Norway's Erling Haaland the chance to enter an exciting race to score as many goals as possible, especially after their teams secured play until the final day, but even with this advantage, none of them managed to reach Fontaine's record, which he achieved in just six matches.

Fontaine's name is mentioned every four years as a benchmark for the new generation of players, but at other times it is just a great trivia answer. However, the striker, whose name still echoes today and whose achievement adorns FIFA's list of record scorers, has a unique story: he was not a candidate for the starting lineup of the French team at the Swedish World Cup, and joined by chance after a player was injured, to the extent that he borrowed a shoe from a teammate to be able to play.

Messi participated in 6 World Cup editions and didn't manage to break Fontaine's record (AP) cut out

Compared to those who have unsuccessfully tried to break his record in tournaments over the past 68 years, Fontaine is relatively unknown to contemporary audiences. While Brazil's Pelé, Messi, and others are regarded as the best footballers of all time, Fontaine has now become just a name mentioned in passing trivia.

But this is an understatement of Fontaine's exceptional career; if he were playing in the current era, he would have represented another country. The 2026 World Cup quarterfinal between France and Morocco (2-0) could be described as the 'Just Fontaine derby,' as Fontaine was born in Marrakech in August 1933, when Morocco was a French protectorate.

Morocco gained its independence two years before the start of the 1958 World Cup, but by then Fontaine was an established international player in French leagues, so he represented France.

Mbappé scored 10 goals and won the Golden Boot but could not reach Fontaine's record (AP)

But during the preparations for the World Cup in Sweden, Fontaine was not the first choice for France's attack, but an injury to his teammate René Bliard in a friendly match changed the situation at the last moment, and he had to borrow a sports shoe from his teammate Stéphane Bruey for the opening match because he did not have suitable footwear. Fontaine had undergone knee cartilage surgery during the season, which cast doubt on his participation in the tournament, but this meant he entered the tournament fully fit, while many other players had a long and grueling season.

Fontaine and the Record

Fontaine was not an unknown player at the time, and he was fighting to recover from injury before coach Albert Batteux decided to include him in the starting lineup.

In an interview with the BBC in April 2002, Fontaine said he never thought about becoming a top scorer. He explained: 'At that time, there wasn't much pressure on us. Only two journalists were following the team. Our coaches were so sure we would be eliminated from the tournament that they only gave us three jerseys per player, which made us completely free from pressure. I never thought about the record for most goals, to the extent that I even refused to take a penalty in the third-place match!'

Fontaine played for Reims, which won the French league and cup double in the 1957-1958 season. This title was one of four Ligue 1 titles won by Fontaine (one with his former club Nice, and three with Reims).

A year after the World Cup, Fontaine helped Reims reach the European Cup final, which they lost to Real Madrid, and he was the tournament's top scorer for the 1958-1959 season with 10 goals.

He was highly regarded by his teammates, including Raymond Kopa, the French national team star who won the Ballon d'Or in 1958, in which Fontaine finished third.

During his time with the French national team, Fontaine shared a room with Kopa, the legendary Real Madrid player. They would talk about their understanding of the game.

Fontaine scored a hat-trick in the historic 7-3 victory over Paraguay in France's opening match of Group 2, which was the spark that ignited the team's spirit. Fontaine scored in every match, including the semifinal, when France lost 5-2 to the unstoppable Brazilian team featuring a 17-year-old Pelé.

The third-place match gave Fontaine one last chance to prove his worth, and he seized it, scoring four goals in a resounding 6-3 victory over West Germany. But what is most striking about these goals is not just their number, but also their brilliance.

The newspaper L'Équipe described him as an English-style attacking leader – brave, combative, and stubborn. Moreover, scoring a hat-trick in his first match of the tournament undoubtedly gave him great confidence.

His third goal against the Germans was magnificent; he received the ball at the halfway line, bypassed several defenders, and shot into the far corner of the goal, reminiscent of Michael Owen's goal for England against Argentina in 1998.

Fontaine's prolific scoring mirrored the high-scoring nature of the 1958 World Cup, which saw 126 goals – the second-highest total in a 16-team tournament, after the 1954 edition. France was the highest-scoring team with 23 goals.

With players like Fontaine and Kopa, the BBC believes that the 1958 French team was among the best in the country's history, including the current team... We talk a lot about the 1998 and 2018 French teams, but this was the first great French team. The five-man attack scored 22 goals, indicating their strength. True, defenses were a bit slower at that time, but thanks to France's passing style, the French team could score against any team.

The Sweden World Cup was the last tournament (before 2026) to witness true scoring abundance. There was the rising Brazilian team led by Pelé, but the French team was also one of the greatest of all time. Fontaine was also creating goals for Kopa, and the team was extremely brilliant. Only Brazil, one of the greatest teams in history, stopped France in the 1958 World Cup.