Borrowed shoes, no Golden Boot - the story of the World Cup's greatest scorer

Just Fontaine's record 13 goals at a single World Cup is remarkable in itself. Now consider that he wasn't wearing his own boots, and wasn't supposed to be starting France's games.

He didn't even get a Golden Boot trophy for being the 1958 tournament's top scorer - instead he was awarded an air rifle by a Swedish newspaper for being a "sharp shooter".

His name comes up every four years as the benchmark for the latest crop of players - but for the rest of the time he is a great pub quiz answer.

At the 2026 World Cup some of the best goalscorers on the planet are getting closer to him than others have managed in many decades since, with Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Harry Kane locked in a fearsome battle for the Golden Boot.

Since 1970, only three times has the World Cup top scorer bagged more than six goals at a tournament. Mbappe has eight already, while Messi and Haaland have seven with Kane and Jude Bellingham one behind.

Of course, an extra round of matches for the 48-team tournament will help these strikers as their teams go deep into the competition.

But even with that leg up, they are currently still some way behind the man who set the record in just six matches.

Compared to those who have vainly chased his tournament record for the past 68 years, Fontaine is a relative unknown to modern audiences. While Pele, Messi et al are rightly regarded as the best male players ever, Fontaine is now a piece of trivia.

But that is to play down the remarkable life and career of Fontaine - who, if he were playing in the modern day, would have represented a different country.

The 2026 quarter-final between France and Morocco was the Just Fontaine derby. He was born in Marrakesh in August 1933 - at the time, Morocco was a French protectorate.

Morocco gained independence two years before the 1958 World Cup, but by that time Fontaine was an established international footballer playing in the French leagues - so he represented Les Bleus.

And, as sports journalist and historian Philip Barker explained to BBC Sport, had all gone to plan for France, Fontaine would not have been starting games at the World Cup in Sweden at all.

"He was not actually first choice - a team-mate [Rene Bliard] got injured in a warm-up game," explains Barker. "It was such a last-minute change, he had to borrow boots [from team-mate Stephane Bruey] for the opening game as he didn't have any to fit him.

"Imagine something like that now, so very different to what we have today.

"Fontaine had an operation on his meniscus [cartilage in his knee] during the season, so he had been a doubt for the tournament. But it meant he came to the tournament fresh - a lot of the other players had had a long hard season."

Fontaine only had five caps for France when he was promoted to the starting XI by manager Albert Batteux, but he was hardly an unknown.

Speaking to the BBC in April 2002, Fontaine says he never thought about becoming top scorer.

"In those days there was not so much pressure on us," Fontaine said. "Only two journalists followed the team around.

"Our team bosses were so convinced we would be knocked out that they only gave us three shirts each, so we were totally free from pressure.

"My mind was not on the goals record at all. I even turned down the chance to take a penalty in the third-place game!"

He played for Reims, who in 1957-58 won the French league and cup double. It was one of four Ligue 1 titles Fontaine won - one with previous club Nice, three with Reims.

A year after the World Cup, Fontaine would help fire Reims to the European Cup final - which they lost to Real Madrid - top scoring in the 1958-59 tournament with 10 goals.

And he was held in high regard by team-mates, including Raymond Kopa - the star of the French team who went on to win the 1958 Ballon d'Or, in which Fontaine came third.

"Fontaine shared a room with Kopa on international duty, this legendary player for Real Madrid," said Barker. "They spoke about their understanding of the game.

"So he came into the team, and took to it like a duck to water."

Fontaine scored a hat-trick in a remarkable 7-3 victory over Paraguay in France's Group Two opener, and that lit the blue touch-paper.

He scored in every match, including the semi-final, when France were beaten 5-2 by the unstoppable Brazil side featuring 17-year-old Pele.

The third-place play-off offered Fontaine one last chance to fill his borrowed boots - and he took it, with four goals in a 6-3 thumping of West Germany.

What is most striking about these goals is not only the number, but also the quality.

Fontaine was no bruiser on black-and-white TV, when the balls were heavy leather and keepers unprotected from assault from forwards. Watching highlights of him from 1958, Fontaine looks like he would thrive in the modern day.

Against Paraguay, he profits from late runs into the box, breaking the offside trap and placing shots into the corner.

"Fontaine looks like a modern striker, he has so much pace," says Barker. "He was a leader of the attack in the English style, said [newspaper] L'Equipe - courageous, combative, stubborn.

"Then scoring a hat-trick in your first game of the tournament, that must give you so much confidence."

His hat-trick goal against the Germans is a particular beauty - picking up the ball on the halfway line, outpacing defenders and tucking into the far corner, it is reminiscent of Michael Owen for England against Argentina in 1998.