In the past, Fontaine s 13-goal data was the upper limit for goals in a single World Cup; now, 13 goals seems to have become another upper limit - starting with Mbappe s Champions League data

When many people talk about the World Cup historical scorer list, they usually ignore Klose, Ronaldo, and Gerd Muller, and directly worship Fontaine. There is no other reason. Klose scored 16 goals in 4 terms, Gerd Muller scored 14 goals in two terms, but Fontaine only scored 13 goals in one term. Although the intensity, rhythm, and difficulty of confrontations are very different between the World Cup in the black and white period and later, in terms of data alone, Fontaine is indeed extremely difficult to surpass. It would be extremely difficult for Mbappe to score 13 goals in one World Cup. He scored 8 goals in the last World Cup, which is already impressive.

Therefore, it is expected that the top spot in the World Cup historical scorer list will change hands, and Mbappe is very likely to achieve it in 2026. But in the single World Cup scorer list, Fontaine's position is indestructible. Mbappe, let alone chasing his French seniors, should first chase Cocchis with 11 goals, Gerd Muller with 10 goals, and Eusebio with 9 goals. In fact, many data and records will be interpreted with new connotations as the times change. Fontaine's 13 goals have always been the upper limit for goals in a single World Cup. Now, 13 goals seems to have become another upper limit.

Let’s start with Mbappe. However, let’s not talk about the World Cup first, but let’s talk about the Champions League first. Defeated Kairat 5-0 in an away game, Mbappe scored a hat trick. As of now, Mbappe's Champions League goals have reached 60. Of course, this is far from the statistics of Ronaldo's 140 goals and Messi's 129 goals. But if you change the list, Mbappe will be at the top of the list - among all the shooters in history who have not won the Champions League, Mbappe has scored the most goals. And considering that those behind him have either retired or are far behind him, Mbappe's advantage will become more obvious in the next few years. Until he won the Champions League and disappeared from this list. In that case, this list will continue to be led by Ruud van Nistelrooy, who scored 56 goals. OK, back to the World Cup. Fontaine is the top scorer in the history of a single World Cup, but unfortunately, France stopped in the semi-finals of the 1958 World Cup, so Fontaine did not win the World Cup championship. But if you look at the World Cup total scorer list, the three people ahead of him, Klose, Ronaldo, and Gerd Muller, are all World Cup champions. Therefore, 13 goals has become the upper limit for shooters who have not won the World Cup in history. This is the same as Mbappe in the Champions League. In other words, as long as your number of World Cup goals reaches 13 or more, you can be sure that you have won the World Cup. Yes, flat 13, for Messi. After all, Messi also scored 13 goals. But in the 2026 World Cup, Messi still has a chance. He only needs to score one more goal to surpass Fontaine. In fact, this topic is prepared for Ronaldo. Now public opinion is assuming a possibility - Ronaldo will follow Messi and win the Hercules Cup in 2026. In this way, the era of peerless pride is truly complete. But if you look at Messi's operations in the 2022 World Cup, he scored 7 goals, which is more than the previous four individual goals combined. Therefore, if Ronaldo wants to create a miracle, he must produce explosive data. In the first five sessions, he only scored 8 goals. If 13 goals is a golden line for a championship, then Ronaldo is still 6 goals short. This is an almost impossible task for the president who will be 41 years old by then. We still have to have dreams, what if they come true? In the next few months, let’s take a look at the status of Portugal and Ronaldo.