5 FIFA World Cup stars who prematurely retired from international football 

#3 Just Fontaine, France

Just Fontaine retired from international football at the age of 29

Just Fontaine will always be remembered as one of the greatest footballers to have come out of France. He was one of the most lethal strikers of the 1950s and created quite a name for himself at the 1958 World Cup.

Fontaine scored in every single group match for France- a hat-trick against Paraguay followed by a brace against Yugoslavia and a goal against Scotland. Fontaine scored another brace in the quarter-finals against Northern Ireland. He scored one in France’s semi-final defeat to Sweden which brought his goal tally of the tournament to 9.

However, his finest performance of the tournament came in the 3rd-place play-off against Germany Gothenburg. Fontaine scored two goals in the first half which brought him level with Hungary’s Sandor Kocsis for the most number of goals in a single World Cup edition at 11. He then scored his second hat-trick of the tournament by scoring in the 78th minute to break Kocsis’ record. Fontaine scored a fourth goal in the 89th to end the tournament with 13 goals which remains the most number of goals scored at a single World Cup.

Fontaine played for France for another two years before ending his international career in 1960, aged only 26. A recurring injury cut Fontaine’s club career short and he retired from professional football in 1962, aged 29. He ended his international career with 30 goals in just 21 matches, 18 of them coming in 1958.