French footballer Just Fontaine, record holder for goals scored in a single World Cup final phase, with 13 in the 1958 edition, has died this Wednesday at the age of 89, according to a family source.
The former striker, who was capped 21 times with France and scored 30 goals, three of them against Portugal (1959), was one of the protagonists of the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, where Les Bleus reached the semifinals for the first time, a phase in which they they were eliminated by future champions Brazil (5-2).
Despite having played only six games, Fontaine is the fourth best scorer in World Cup history, with the same 13 goals as Argentine Lionel Messi, on a list headed by German Miroslav Klose, with 16 goals, followed by Brazilian Ronaldo. . , with 15, and the also German Gerd Müller, with 14.
The French striker was not included in the 1958 World Cup squad, but ended up replacing Thadée Cisowski, who was injured shortly before the start of the championship.
Just Fontaine, born in Morocco, ended up ‘closing’ the World Cup podium, with the French team beating Germany in the match for third place, 6-3, with a ‘poker’ (four goals) from the striker.
Earlier, the French striker started with a hat-trick against Paraguay (7-3), a double against Yugoslavia (2-3) and a goal against Scotland (2-1), in the group stage, another time ‘double’ with Northern Ireland (4-0), in the ‘fourth’, and a goal against Brazil (2-5), in the ‘half’.
In his career, Fontaine started at USM Casablanca, and in France he played for Nice and Reims, winning four times in France and once in Morocco, as well as winning two French Cups.
The footballer ended his career early, at the age of 28, after a double fracture in his leg, later taking on coaching duties, with a brief stint with the French team, followed by Paris Saint-Germain and also by Morocco, a team in the one who was third in the 1980 African Cup of Nations.
Source: TSF
