Thirteen Goals in Six Matches: The Record That Will Never Fall
Just Fontaine's 13 goals in a single World Cup (1958) stood for 68 years — scored in borrowed boots by a third-choice striker.
Published: June 6, 2026
# Thirteen Goals in Six Matches: The Record That Will Never Fall
1958. Sweden. Just Fontaine wasn't supposed to be there. France's third-choice striker. The starter got injured. The backup got injured. Fontaine — skinny, chain-smoking, Moroccan-born, ran with a hunched-over gait — was handed the starting spot.
Six matches. Thirteen goals.
He scored in every match. Hat-trick vs Paraguay. Two vs Yugoslavia. One vs Scotland. Two vs Northern Ireland. One vs Brazil in the semifinal (Brazil won 5-2, Pele hat-trick — Fontaine's goal was almost forgotten). Four vs West Germany in the third-place match. Four. In one game. He wore borrowed boots — his own had worn out.
The record has stood 68 years. Closest: Gerd Muller 10 (1970). Ronaldo 8 (2002). Mbappe 8 (2022). Nobody has reached double digits since Muller. Nobody.
Fontaine died in 2023 at 89. Asked late in life if anyone would break his record, he laughed. "Thirteen goals in six matches? You'd need a miracle. Or another me."