Just Fontaine, France's 1958 World Cup hero, dies aged 89

Tributes from around the world of football poured in on Wednesday for the former Reims and France international striker Just Fontaine, who has died at the age of 89.

Just Fontaine scored 13 goals during the 1958 World Cup. AFP - STAFF

Reims – with whom he won three top flight titles as well as the Coupe de France in the late 1950s – issued a statement on social media hailing a star of French football and an unrivalled goalscorer.

"Reims send its sincerest condolences to his family and closes friends," the tweet added.

𝗨𝗻𝗲 𝗲́𝘁𝗼𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝘂 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰̧𝗮𝗶𝘀, 𝘂𝗻 𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗿, 𝘂𝗻 𝗥𝗲́𝗺𝗼𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗲́𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲 💫

À sa famille, à ses proches, le SDR adresse ses plus sincères condoléances 🙏#JustFontaine #LégendeSDR pic.twitter.com/0oFAIKJ9AB

— Stade de Reims (@StadeDeReims) March 1, 2023

Fontaine shot to prominence during France's run to third place at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden.

The 25-year-old striker scored six goals in games against Paraguay, Yugoslavia and Scotland.

He then bagged a brace in the 4-0 quarter-final victory over Northern Ireland.

His ninth goal of the competition cancelled out Vava's second-minute opener for Brazil in the semi-final.

Eclipse

Didi restored Brazil's lead before the pyrotechnics of a certain Brazilian 17-year-old. 

Pelé's hat trick between the 52nd and 75th minute detonated France's chance of reaching their first final.

Consolation would come for Fontaine and his teammates with a 6-3 triumph over West Germany to seal third place.

Fontaine's four goals in that game furnished him with the tournament's golden boot. His mark of 13 goals remains a record tally for a single tournament.

However, a succession of injuries ended his career in 1962 at the age of 28.

His statistics were astonishing. In 30 games for France, he scored 21 goals.

In his 12 seaons with USM de Casablanca, Nice and Reims, he smashed home 256 goals in 284 matches.

End

"We talk a lot about my record at the World Cup," he told one interviewer in 2013.

"But I would definitely have swapped it for another five or six years, because football was my passion.

"I was at the very top, and I was earning a lot of money at the time. It was not the money you see nowadays, it was five times the minimum wage, whereas now it would be more like one hundred times that."

 Born in Marrakech in August 1933 to a French father and Spanish mother at the time of the French Protectorate in Morocco, Fontaine went to school in Casablanca, and began his football career there.

Barely out of his teens, he moved to Nice where he won the Coupe de France and the French championship.

The move to Reims brought him more domestic glory and in 1961 a key role in the creation of the union nationale des footballeurs professionnels  UNFP) - an achievement he lauded more than his World Cup haul.

"He was a politically engaged footballer," UNFP president Philippe Piat told the French sports newsppaer L'Equipe on Wednesday.

"It's trypical of the man that he often said that what he was most proud of was not his 13 goals in the World Cup but the creation of the players' union.

"He was always present behind the scenes because he was proud of it. He had a vision, he paved the way.".

The Fédération française de Football  said games over the next few days would be preceded by a minute's silence to pay tribute to Fontai

Loss

Interim president Philippe Diallo added: "Just Fontaine left his mark on French and international football. He was an emblematic figure and he wrote one of the most beautiful pages in the history of the French national team.

"Beyond his immense career as a player, Just Fontaine played a major role in the development of French football. Professional players of all generations owe him a lot.

"Today, French football is in mourning. It has lost one of its legends. On behalf of French football and on a personal level, I offer my sincere condolences to his wife Arlette, his family and his loved ones."

Gianni Infantino, boss of world football's governing body Fifa, which organises World Cup competitions; said: "Just was a football icon and his tremendous performance in 1958 cemented his legacy as one of the greatest Fifa World Cup players of all time.

"The imprint he left on world football will always be remembered. I offer my deepest condolences to Just's family and friends at this difficult time. Rest in peace."