Scoring outbursts in the FIFA World Cup. In the last three World Cups, the top goalscorer put up six or fewer goals. Over the previous 12 World Cup tournaments, only two players have scored more than six goals; Polish Grzegorz Lato, seven goals in 1974, and Brazilian Ronaldo, eight in Korea Japan 2002, but that is not the norm during World Cup competition, there are tremendous goalscoring numbers in past contests.
After 14 games played in Russia and 32 goals scored overall, three players scored braces, and another striker netted a hat-trick. In Brazil 2014, after 14 games played, the goal tally was at 44. Up to that point, four players scored braces, and one player scored a hat-trick.
1 Just Fontaine (France, 1958)
During the sixth World Cup in history, French striker Just Fontaine had the biggest goalscoring outburst ever seen. The Stade de Reims forward accounted for 13 of France’s 23 goals in the competition.
Fontaine’s record remains intact at the top of this list 60 years and 14 World Cups later. The French forward scored in each of the six games he played in the tournament. Also, he is one of three players who managed to have two matches of at least three goals in a single World Cup.
Fontaine played only the 1958 World Cup because of an injury-plagued career. His World Cup stats are 13 goals in 6 games, with a 2.17 goal-per-game ratio.
The resume of Fontaine’s goals in the 1958 contest is:
Hat-trick versus Paraguay in the first matchday of the group stage
Brace in a loss against Yugoslavia in the second matchday
A goal versus Scotland in the last matchday
Brace against Northern Ireland in the quarterfinals
A goal in a loss versus Brazil in the semifinals
Four goals in France’s 6-3 win over Germany for third place.
2 Sándor Kocsis (Hungary, 1954)
Hungarian forward Sándor Kocsis was Hungary’s goalscoring machine in its runner-up effort in the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland. Kocsis scored 11 goals in five games during the contest.
Playing alongside prolific striker Ferenc Puskás, Kocsis was a crucial part during Hungary’s run to the final. The Magnificent Magyars scored at least four goals before getting into the tournament’s final. The Hungarian squad scored 25 goals in the four games before its 3-2 loss to Germany in the final, a match commonly known as The Miracle of Bern.
Kocsis’ brilliant effort in the tournament started early after the Hungarian scored a hat-trick in a 9-0 victory against South Korea in the first match day. His run continued in the second game of the group stage when he put up a four-goal effort in Hungary’s 8-3 triumph over Germany.
3 Gerd Müller / Germany / 1970
Gerd Müller’s historical performance in the World Cup started in México 1970. The legendary German striker opened up his illustrious World Cup career with a superb 10-goal tally for his National Team.
Müller was the third player to reach at least 10 goals in a single tournament and the last to do it, so far. Müller scored one goal in Germany’s win against Morocco in the first matchday; then, he became the second player to score consecutive hat-tricks in the World Cup, after Sándor Kocsis in 1954.
Germany faced England in the quarterfinals and Müller scored the game-winning goal in the extra time to give his national team a semifinals spot. In the round of four, Müller scored once again in the extra time, but his brace was not enough to defeat Italy and advance to the championship game. Müller played 90 minutes in the match for the third place against Uruguay but was not able to equal Kocsis’ 11-goal tally nor get close to Fontaine’s 13 in 1958.