World Cup Facts: Top scorers during history - Part 1

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The 1930 World Cup in Uruguay: Guillermo Stabile (Argentina, four games, eight goals)

After the 0-1 loss in the first match against France, Stabile began to resonate with a hat-trick in a 6-3 victory over Mexico. The 1905-born striker then scored a brace in the last 3-1 group stage encounter against Chile and a goal in the 6-1 semi-final victory over the United States. In that year's tournament, he scored a goal, but his effort was not enough to seal a win for his country. Argentina then had to suffer a 2-4 defeat to Uruguay and see the rival lift the trophy.

Stabile had three more goals than the second-placed scorer of that year, Uruguay's Pedro Cea.

The 1934 World Cup in Italy: Oldrich Nejedly (Czechoslovakia, four games, five goals)

Nejedly scored the game-winning goal in a 2-1 win over Romania in the round of 16, a 3-2 win over Switzerland in the quarter-finals, and then he had a hat-trick in a 3-1 win over Germany in the semi-finals. In the final, he failed to score, and Czechoslovakia received a 1-2 defeat against the host nation, Italy. Nejedly also had two goals in the next World Cup.

The 1938 World Cup in France: Leonidas (Brazil, five games, seven goals)

Leonidas opened his goal account at the 1938 World Cup with a hat-trick in a 6-5 victory over Poland in the round of 16. He scored one goal in both the first quarter-final (1-1) tie with Czechoslovakia and the 2-1 rematch win. In the semi-finals, Brazil subjectively let Leonidas sit on the bench to recuperate, and as a result, they lost 1-2 to Italy. Leonidas then scored two more goals in the third-place match against Sweden, winning 4-2.

The 1950 World Cup in Brazil: Ademir (Brazil, six games, nine goals)

In the first group stage, Ademir scored twice in a 4-0 win over Mexico and once in a 2-0 win over Yugoslavia. In the second group stage, which brought together the top four teams from the first group stage, he scored four goals in a 7-1 win over Sweden and two goals in a 6-1 win over Spain. He and his team "failed" in the last match, losing 1-2 to Uruguay. This was a match that Brazil only needed to draw to win.

Uruguay was crowned with five points, one point more than Brazil. The 1950 World Cup was the only tournament without a play-off final.

The 1954 World Cup in Switzerland: Sandor Kocsis (Hungary, five games, 11 goals)

The former Barca star scored three goals in the 9-0 win over South Korea, four goals in the 8-3 win over West Germany, two goals in the quarter-finals 4-2 win over Brazil and two in the 4-2 win over Uruguay in the semifinal.

In the final match, like Ademir in 1950, he "failed" the scoring mission, and Hungary had to receive a 2-3 loss to West Germany.

The 1958 World Cup in Sweden: Just Fontaine (France, six games, 13 goals)

Fontaine scored three goals in a 7-3 win over Paraguay, two in a 2-3 loss to Yugoslavia, and one in a 2-1 win over Scotland in the group stage. He went on to score twice in a 4–0 quarterfinal win over Northern Ireland, one in a 2–5 loss to Brazil in the semi-finals, and four in a 6–3 third-place win over West Germany. Fontaine has seven more goals on his record than the two runners-up in the top-scorer race at that year's tournament, Pele and Rahn.

The 1962 World Cup in Chile: Garrincha, Vava (Brazil), Leonel Sanchez (Chile), Florian Albert (Hungary), Valentin Ivanov (Soviet Union), Drazan Jerkovic (Yugoslavia), with four goals

Albert and Ivanov needed only four games to score four goals, while the remaining top scorers needed six. The two most impressive players are Garrincha and Vava. After "nothing" in the group stage, they contributed eight of Brazil's 10 goals in three subsequent matches, including the quarterfinals, the semifinals, and the final, helping the Selecao win the second consecutive title.

The 1966 World Cup in England: Eusebio (Portugal, six games, nine goals)

Eusebio started the tournament with a goal in a 3-0 win over Bulgaria and a brace in a 3-1 win over Brazil, a result that sent the defending champion home right from the group stage. Eusebio scored four more goals in the 5-3 win over Korea in the quarterfinals, one in the 2-1 loss to England in the semifinals, and one in the 2-1 third-place match against the Soviet Union.

The 1970 World Cup in Mexico: Gerd Muller (West Germany, six games, 10 goals)

After starting with a goal in a 2-1 win over Morocco, Muller scored a hat-trick in the next two games, beating Bulgaria 5-2 and Peru 3-1. The West German football legend scored another goal in the 3-2 win over England in the quarter-finals and two goals in the 3-4 defeat to Italy in the semi-finals.

Muller is the last player to hit double figures in a World Cup.

The 1974 World Cup, West Germany: Grzegorz Lato (Poland, seven games, seven goals)

In the first group stage, Lato scored twice in both victories over Argentina and Haiti. In the second group stage, he scored the winning goal in the 1-0 victory over Sweden and the 2–1 win over Yugoslavia. In the third-place match against Brazil, Lato continued to score to seal a 1-0 victory for his country.

Third place at the 1974 World Cup is one of Poland's two best achievements, next to a similar achievement at the 1982 World Cup.

The 1978 World Cup, in Argentina: Mario Kempes (Argentina, seven games, six goals)

After "failing" to score in all three matches in the first group stage, the former Valencia striker shone with a brace in the 2-0 victories over Poland and the 6-0 triumph over Peru in the second group stage. In the final, Kempes continued to score twice to help Argentina defeat the Netherlands with a score of 3-1.

After Uruguay and Brazil, Argentina became the third South American team to win the World Cup.