The 2022 FIFA World Cup was an excellent spectacle with memories for posterity. There were fairytale success stories for some, upset defeats for some, and it all culminated in the final between Argentina and France - perhaps the most fascinating of all the World Cup finals.

Only 10 weeks later, the man with the record of most goals in a single World Cup left this world. Just Fontaine who scored 13 goals for France at the 1958 World Cup passed away in Toulouse, capital of France`s Southern Occitanie region, on March 1 at the age of 89. This is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest records in international soccer; no player has been able to match it in the 65 years since it was set.

There has been a lot of talk of France-born players who played at the 2022 World Cup for teams outside of the French team - 38 of them. Two of them played for Morocco which became the first African nation to reach the World Cup semi-final. Ironically, Just Fontaine who played for France was born in Morocco in 1933 to a French father and a Spanish mother. At the time, Morocco was a French protectorate. He started his soccer career in Morocco. Just 17, Fontaine was playing for Moroccan Sports Union popularly called USM — the strongest club in the country at the time and most successful before Morocco`s independence in 1956.

Fontaine`s predatory skills were very much evident right from the start. In 48 matches for the USM, he netted no less than 62 goals. No surprise, Nice, the reigning French champions, picked the 20-year-old in 1953. The same year, he was appearing in the French national colours. In a sensational debut on 17 December 1953, Fontaine scored a hattrick against Luxemburg in a World Cup qualifier. Yet, he was not considered for the 1954 World Cup held a few months later probably for his inexperience.

Remarkably, for the 1958 World Cup, Fontaine was not in the French team management`s original squad despite being the French Division 1`s top scorer with 34 goals for Reims, the winners. As he later revealed ‘Albert Batteux (the France coach) didn’t really want me’.

Only injuries to Thadee Cisowski and Rene Bliard saw him make the squad and then the playing XI.

His show at soccer`s biggest stage is enshrined in the beautiful game`s history. Arriving in Sweden as a reserve striker with little hope of being a part of the starting XI, Fontaine ended the tournament with an incredible total of 13 goals.

Like his international debut, Fontaine had a hattrick on his World Cup debut, against Paraguay in a 7-3 win. Next, France lost to Yugoslavia in a 3-2 thriller, with Fontaine netting both goals for his team. Their qualification to the knockout stage came down to the last group match against Scotland. With the Yugoslavia/Paraguay game kicking off at the same time, only a victory could have ensured France advancing when they started against Scotland. It turned out to be a tense battle. Fontaine scored the vital second goal in the 2-1 French victory. Though, the 3-3 score in the Yugoslavia/Paraguay tie meant even a draw would have sufficed.

In the quarter-final, they had an easy sailing against Northern Ireland, Fontaine twice finding the target in a 4-0 win. Hence the `Les Blues` reached the last four of the World Cup for the first time. They found a Brazil team with a world class player in almost every position — for many the best side of all time. At least for the first 37 minutes, it was a close contest. Fontaine had equalised in the ninth minute — the first goal the mighty Brazilians conceded at the 1958 World Cup. With the game tied at 1-1, France had a great setback. Their brilliant centre half Robert Janquet got injured after a collision and spent the rest of the match more or less useless and hobbling; substitutes were only allowed at the World Cup from 1970. With just 10 fit players, France could not sustain the relentless Brazilian pressure and eventually lost 2-5.

They recovered well from the big disappointment and won the third-place play-off against erstwhile West Germany. With talismanic Fontaine scoring four times, France had a convincing 6-3 win. It remained France`s sole podium finish at a World Cup before 1998.

Fontaine had hattricks in his team`s first as well as the last match; one of the only three players to score two hattricks in one World Cup. But he stands alone with 13 goals as the highest scorer in one World Cup. His total was seven more than the second top scorer in 1958. Only two others have reached double figures: Hungary’s Kocsis (11) in 1954 and West Germany`s Gerd Muller (10) in 1974. He remained the only French player to have won the World Cup golden boot (for the top scorer) until Kylian Mbappe’s award in Qatar last year.

At the age of just 28, Fontaine was forced to retire after breaking his leg twice in succession. In only 21 international matches he notched 30 goals at an incredible ratio of 1.4 per match.

He also achieved tremendous success for both the French Clubs he appeared for: with Nice (1953-56) 42 goals in 69 appearances and with Reims (1956-62) 122 in 131 apart from winning the league with both sides. Fontaine was also a part of the Reims side that reached the European Cup final in 1959 losing to the all-conquering star-studded Real Madrid.

Sturdily built, Fontaine had pace, together with an instinct for knowing when and where the ball was coming to him. His amazing finishing power was supplemented by his ability to remain cool, calm and collected in the heat of the moment.

Later, he turned to coaching and even had a little spell with the French national team for two friendly games apart from stints with the French domestic sides including Paris Saint Germaine and Toulouse. Interestingly, in the coaching role, his major success came with the national team of the country of his birth. Under his tutelage, Morocco finished 3rd at the 1980 African Cup of Nations.

A great advocate of players` rights, Fontaine founded the UNFP (National Union of Professional Footballers) in 1961 and was its first President till 1964.

In 2003, he was chosen as the best French player of the last 50 years by the French Football Federation. A minute’s silence was observed at all the matches of Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 throughout France at the weekend following the maestro`s demise.

The French Football Federation described Fontaine as “the eternal goal scorer”. His tally of 13 goals in Sweden in 1958 is likely to remain a World Cup record for Eternity.

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