He wasn't a World Cup champion like Zinedine Zidane or Mbappé. He didn't win millions like Karim Benzema. His trophy cabinet doesn't include any Champions League or Europa League titles, but it does have four French leagues, two French cups, two super cups, and a record that has stood for 64 years: being the top goal scorer of a World Cup.
At 25 years old, in Sweden '58, Pelé's first World Cup, Just Fontaine made history by scoring thirteen great goals. He scored against six teams. The count is as follows: a hat-trick against Paraguay, then two against Yugoslavia, one against Scotland, two against Northern Ireland, one against Brazil, and finally, four against Germany. He didn't lift the World Cup trophy, but obtained a meritorious third place.
"Just was the forward who perfectly adapted to my game. He perfectly understood what I did, and I was sure to find him on the other side of my dribbles," Raymond Kopa once said about the forward who played for Union Sportive Marocaine de Marrakech, Nice, and the legendary Stade de Reims at the club level.
After hanging up his boots in the early sixties, Fontaine managed the French national team in 1967. And later, he managed Paris Saint Germain before they became the millionaires of world football between 1973 and 1976. He also coached Toulouse and the Moroccan club Maroc. In 2012, he was rightfully inducted into the International Football Hall of Fame.
If you love the history of football, like we do, you must watch this special. It was definitely a different football, one in black and white, where pressing and other concepts so common in today's world weren't discussed yet. Players didn't train like athletes, but that didn't stop them from achieving feats like those of Just Fontaine, a living legend of the sport.