{"id":23353,"date":"2023-03-01T14:21:50","date_gmt":"2023-03-01T14:21:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/03\/01\/world-cup-record-holder-just-fontaine-dies-aged-89\/"},"modified":"2023-03-01T14:21:50","modified_gmt":"2023-03-01T14:21:50","slug":"world-cup-record-holder-just-fontaine-dies-aged-89","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/03\/01\/world-cup-record-holder-just-fontaine-dies-aged-89\/","title":{"rendered":"World Cup record holder Just Fontaine dies aged 89"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Just
Just Fontaine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Just Fontaine, who holds the record for the most goals scored at a single World Cup, has died at the age of 89.<\/p>\n

Fontaine scored 13 goals in just six matches for France at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden as they finished third.<\/p>\n

He is joint-fourth on the all-time World Cup goalscorers list alongside Argentina\u2019s Lionel Messi.<\/p>\n

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\u201cA star of French football, an outstanding striker, a legendary Reims player,\u201d said his former club Stade de Reims.<\/p>\n

Another of his former clubs, Paris St-Germain, said: \u201cA thought for Just Fontaine. An icon of French football who has left us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only three players have scored more goals at World Cups than Fontaine, a statistic made more remarkable by the fact he only played in the 1958 tournament.<\/p>\n

He would not have even played there had it not been for injuries to fellow forwards Thadee Cisowski and Reims team-mate Rene Bliard.<\/p>\n

The striker went on to score in every game in Sweden, including four goals in a 6-3 win over West Germany in the third-place play-off.<\/p>\n

In total, Fontaine scored 30 goals in just 31 appearances for France between 1953 and 1960.<\/p>\n

He spent much of his club career at Stade de Reims, where he scored 145 goals in 152 appearances, winning three Ligue 1 titles and reaching the 1959 European Cup final, where they lost to a Real Madrid side containing Alfredo di Stefano and Ferenc Puskas.<\/p>\n

He also played for Nice and Moroccan side USM Casablanca but was forced to retire in 1962 at the age of just 28 after suffering a double leg fracture.<\/p>\n

As a manager, Fontaine had two games in charge of France in 1967 before leading Paris St-Germain to promotion to the top division in 1974.<\/p>\n

A short spell at Toulouse followed before he took charge of Morocco, the country of his birth, leading them to third place at the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations.<\/p>\n

Fontaine is also remembered for helping to form French player\u2019s union the UNFP, becoming its first president in 1961.<\/p>\n

In 2004 he was named on Brazil legend Pele\u2019s list of the 125 greatest living footballers.<\/p>\n

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