Despite owning a tournament record others have failed to match for 68 years, Fontaine is largely unfamiliar to many modern fans. While the likes of Pele and Messi are rightly hailed among the greatest, Fontaine is often treated as a footnote.
That view undersells his extraordinary life and career — and, in today’s world, he might well have worn a different national shirt.
The 2026 quarter-final between France and Morocco was dubbed the Just Fontaine derby. He was born in Marrakesh in August 1933, when Morocco was a French protectorate.
Morocco became independent two years before the 1958 World Cup, but by then Fontaine was already an established France international playing in the French leagues — so he represented Les Bleus.
As sports journalist and historian Philip Barker told BBC Sport, had everything gone to plan for France, Fontaine wouldn’t have started at the World Cup in Sweden at all.
“He wasn’t actually first choice — a team-mate [Rene Bliard] got injured in a warm-up game,” Barker explains. “It was such a last-minute change that he had to borrow boots [from team-mate Stephane Bruey] for the opening match because he didn’t have any that fit.”
He had damaged his own pair in training and hadn’t brought a spare.
“Imagine that happening now — it’s so different from today,” Barker adds.
“Fontaine had surgery on his meniscus [cartilage in his knee] during the season, so his place was in doubt. But it meant he arrived at the tournament fresher than many, who had endured a long, hard campaign.”