Just Fontaine

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox football biography Just Louis Fontaine (18 August 1933Template:Dash28 February 2023) was a French professional footballer who played as a striker. He scored the most goals ever in a single edition of the FIFA World Cup, with thirteen in six matches in the 1958 tournament.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In March 2004, Pelé named him one of his 125 Greatest Living Footballers at a FIFA Awards Ceremony.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>

Football career

File:Just Fontaine en 1958.jpg

Fontaine at the 1958 FIFA World Cup.

Born in Marrakech, French Morocco, to a French father and a Spanish mother,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Fontaine moved to Casablanca, where he attended the Lycée Lyautey.Template:Citation needed

Fontaine began his amateur career at USM Casablanca, where he played from 1950 to 1953. Nice recruited him in 1953, and he went on to score 44 goals in three seasons for the club. In 1956, he moved to Stade de Reims, where he teamed up with Raymond Kopa from the 1959–60 season. Fontaine scored 121 goals in six seasons at Stade de Reims. In total, Fontaine scored 165 goals in 200 matches in the Division 1, and won the championship twice, one time in 1958, and the other in 1960. He also took part in the team that got to the 1958–59 European Cup final against Real Madrid, being that season's top scorer with ten goals.<ref name="Guardian">Template:Cite web</ref>

File:Fontaine1958.jpg

Fontaine playing for France at the 1958 FIFA World Cup.

Wearing the blue shirt of France, Fontaine has an even more impressive record. On his debut on 17 December 1953, Fontaine scored a hat trick as France defeated Luxembourg 8–0. In seven years, he scored 30 goals in 21 matches. However, he will best be remembered for his 1958 FIFA World Cup performance, where he scored 13 goals in just six matches – a feat that included putting four past defending champions West Germany. It is also the highest number of goals ever scored by one player at a single World Cup tournament.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This tally secured him the Golden Boot.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:As of, he is tied with Lionel Messi as the fourth-top scorer in FIFA World Cup history, with each of the three ahead of him—Gerd Müller (14 goals), Ronaldo (15 goals) and Miroslav Klose (16 goals)—having played in at least two tournaments.<ref name="BBC">Template:Cite web</ref>

Fontaine played his last match in July 1962, being forced to retire early (28 years and 11 months old) because of a recurring leg injury. He briefly managed the France national team in 1967, but was replaced after only two friendly games, which ended in defeats. As coach of Morocco, he led the Atlas Lions to a third place finish in the 1980 African Cup of Nations,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> overseeing the emergence of such players as Badou Zaki, Mohammed Timoumi and Aziz Bouderbala. Morocco reached the final stage of 1982 World Cup qualification but were beaten by Cameroon. As sporting director of Paris Saint-Germain, he managed to help promote the club to the first division.<ref name="Guardian"/>

After retirement

File:Just Fontaine 2016.jpg

Fontaine in 2016

Fontaine was named by Pelé as one of the 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004. He was chosen as the best French player of the last 50 years by the French Football Federation in the UEFA Jubilee Awards in November 2003.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> With Eugène N'Jo Léa he founded the National Union of Professional Football Players in 1961. He criticized the performance of the French team in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, particularly on the lackluster play of the forwards.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Fontaine died in Toulouse, where he had lived for 60 years, on 28 February 2023<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> at the age of 89.<ref name="Guardian"/><ref name="BBC"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
USM Casablanca	1950–51	Moroccan Football League	16	23	—		—		—		16	23
	1951–52	Moroccan Football League	10	17	—		—		—		10	17
	1952–53	Moroccan Football League	22	22	—		—		—		22	22
	Total		48	62	—		—		—		48	62
Nice	1953–54	Division 1	24	17	7	3	—		—		31	20
	1954–55	Division 1	28	20	4	2	—		—		32	22
	1955–56	Division 1	17	5	3	4	—		1Template:Efn	0	21	9
	Total		69	42	14	9	—		1	0	84	51
Reims	1956–57	Division 1	31	30	1	1	—		—		32	31
	1957–58	Division 1	26	34	6	5	—		—		32	39
	1958–59	Division 1	32	24	2	2	7Template:Efn	10	1Template:Efn	0	42	36
	1959–60	Division 1	28	28	2	2	—		—		30	30
	1960–61	Division 1	7	4	0	0	1Template:Efn	0	—		8	4
	1961–62	Division 1	7	2	1	3	—		—		8	5
	Total		131	122	12	13	8	10	1	0	152	145
Career total			248	226	26	22	8	10	2	0	284	258

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
France	1953	1	3
	1954	0	0
	1955	0	0
	1956	1	0
	1957	1	0
	1958	12	18
	1959	4	7
	1960	2	2
Total		21	30

Scores and results list France's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Fontaine goal<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

List of international goals scored by Just Fontaine

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	17 December 1953	Parc des Princes, Paris, France	1	Template:Fb	4–0	8–0	1954 FIFA World Cup qualification
2					6–0
3					7–0
4	13 March 1958	Parc des Princes, Paris, France	4	Template:Fb	1–1	2–2	Friendly
5	8 June 1958	Idrottsparken, Norrköping, Sweden	6	Template:Fb	1–1	7–3	1958 FIFA World Cup
6					2–1
7					5–3
8	11 June 1958	Arosvallen, Västerås, Sweden	7	Template:Fb	1–0	2–3	1958 FIFA World Cup
9					2–2
10	15 June 1958	Eyravallen, Örebro, Sweden	8	Template:Fb	2–0	2–1	1958 FIFA World Cup
11	19 June 1958	Idrottsparken, Norrköping, Sweden	9	Template:Fb	2–0	4–0	1958 FIFA World Cup
12					3–0
13	24 June 1958	Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden	10	Template:Fb	1–1	2–5	1958 FIFA World Cup
14	28 June 1958	Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden	11	Template:Fb	1–0	6–3	1958 FIFA World Cup
15					3–1
16					5–2
17					6–3
18	1 October 1958	Parc des Princes, Paris, France	12	Template:Fb	2–0	7–1	UEFA Euro 1960 qualifiers
19					6–1
20	5 October 1958	Praterstadion, Vienna, Austria	13	Template:Fb	2–1	2–1	Friendly
21	9 November 1958	Stade Olympique de Colombes, Colombes, France	15	Template:Fb	2–2	2–2	Friendly
22	11 November 1959	Stade Olympique de Colombes, Colombes, France	17	Template:Fb	1–0	5–3	Friendly
23					4–2
24					5–2
25	13 December 1959	Stade Olympique de Colombes, Colombes, France	18	Template:Fb	1–0	5–2	UEFA Euro 1960 qualifiers
26					2–0
27					4–2
28	17 December 1959	Parc des Princes, Paris, France	19	Template:Fb	2–1	4–3	Friendly
29	16 March 1960	Parc des Princes, Paris, France	20	Template:Fb	4–0	6–0	Friendly
30					5–0

Honours

Player

NiceTemplate:Citation needed

• Division 1: 1955–56
• Coupe de France: 1953–54

ReimsTemplate:Citation needed

• Division 1: 1957–58, 1959–60, 1961–62
• Coupe de France: 1957–58
• Trophée des Champions: 1958, 1960
• European Cup: runner-up 1958–59

FranceTemplate:Citation needed

• FIFA World Cup third place: 1958

Individual

• Ballon d'Or third-place: 1958<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• FIFA World Cup Golden Boot: 1958Template:Citation needed
• Division 1 top scorer: 1957–58, 1959–60<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• European Cup top scorer: 1958–59<ref name="Guardian"/>
• FIFA Order of Merit: 1994Template:Citation needed
• Golden Foot: 2003, as a football legend<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• FIFA 100: 2004<ref name=":0" />

Manager

Morocco

• African Cup of Nations third place: 1980<ref name="BBC"/>

Orders

• Knight of the Legion of Honour: 1984<ref name="legion"/>
• Officer of the Legion of Honour: 2013<ref name="legion"/>

External links

• Template:FFF player
• Template:UEFA player
• Template:FIFA player