00:04At Brazil 2014, Miroslav Klose became the leading goalscorer in World Cup history when he bagged his 16th during Germany's
00:147-1 semi-final route of the Seleção.
00:17At Russia 2018, Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo overtook Rob Rentenbrink to become the oldest player to score a World Cup hat
00:25-trick.
00:26And at Qatar 2022, Lionel Messi surpassed Lothar Matthias as the player with the most appearances at the World Cup
00:34finals, with 26.
00:37But one record, that was set way back at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, might never be broken.
00:46The 13 goals scored by France's Juste Fonteyn, which to this day stands as the most ever in a single
00:53World Cup, a mark that no one has even come close to since.
01:01The best tally in the 21st century is 8, scored by Ronaldo in Brazil's last triumph of 2002.
01:09While since Fonteyn set his mark, only West Germany's Gert MĂĽller has broken into double digits, with 10 in 1970.
01:20Fonteyn had only won four caps with France before the tournament kicked off, and won only a further nine after
01:26it, due to injury.
01:31That's not to say his career wasn't decorating.
01:34He won the top flight title in France with Reims four times, being top scorer in 1957-58 and 1959
01:42-60.
01:43And in 1958-59, he was the European Cup's chief goalscorer, as Reims finished runners-up to Real Madrid.
01:53But what happened at the 1958 World Cup is his finest achievement.
01:59He bagged the hat-trick in Les Bleus' opener to beat Paraguay, followed it with a brace in the loss
02:05to Yugoslavia, scored just once against Scotland, but twice as France beat Northern Ireland.
02:11And if not for Brazil's Vaba breaking the leg of Robert Jeanquet after Fonteyn had leveled things at 1-1,
02:18he may have done better in the semi, as France were reduced to 10 men with no substitutes back then.
02:24But with a third-place playoff competitive in name only, Fonteyn scored four against West Germany.
02:32Golden boots, like those given to Harry Kane and James Rodriguez, weren't handed out back then.
02:38But in 2014, Fonteyn was handed a platinum one, in recognition of his performance 56 years prior.
02:47As for whether the record could be broken in North America, well, Fonteyn himself said,
02:5413 goals is an enormous total.
02:57Beating my record, I don't think it can ever be done.
03:03And he might well be correct.
03:05But with the expanded 2026 World Cup requiring the best four teams to play a total of eight matches,
03:12five of them with the potential of extra time,
03:14there has never been more playing time available to challenge the record.
03:20Add to that, the 48-team tournament increasing the possibility of the occasional lopsided matchup
03:27and punishing scoreline.
03:30And there's no shortage of dedicated record breakers ready to do whatever it takes to cement their place in history.
03:37From the relentless Cristiano Ronaldo,
03:40to the ruthless Harry Kane.
03:44So while Juste Fonteyn's 68-year-old record may yet remain intact for another World Cup cycle,
03:51its chances of being overhauled have never been greater.
03:54So while Juste Fonteyn's 68-year-old record,
03:54it's a great record record,
03:54it's a great record record,
03:54it's a great record record,
03:54it's a great record record record,
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