While they won't be heading home with the desired silverware, Michael Olise and Kylian Mbappé have etched their names in the history books at the World Cup.
The French superstars, during a barnburner encounter with England in the third-place match on Saturday, broke the single-tournament assist record and the all-time goals record on the same sequence.
The record-breaking marker came in the 66th minute as Olise played a clever one-two sequence with Mbappé for France's third goal of the game.
It marked Olise's seventh assist of the tournament, breaking Pelé's longstanding record set in 1970. Meanwhile, it was Mbappé's 22nd goal over his three World Cups, breaking the record set by Argentina's Lionel Messi back in the Round of 16 against Egypt.
Mbappé's 10 goals in the tournament are also one for the history books, as he becomes the first player in 56 years to reach the double-digit mark, and only the fourth player, joining Gerd Müller (1970), Just Fontaine (1958) and Sandor Kocsis (1954).
The goal also marked their second such connection of the day, as the duo jump-started France's comeback in the 48th minute, scoring the team's first goal as they looked to climb back from a 4-0 halftime deficit.
In all, five of Olise's assists this tournament have been to Mbappé.
France pulled within 4-3 on Mbappé's second goal. Les Bleus missed out on a chance at playing in their third straight World Cup final when they lost to Spain in the semifinals.
Mbappé scored eight goals to win the Golden Boot four years ago in Qatar, where France lost to Messi and Argentina in a penalty shootout in the final.
Mbappé started Saturday's match for third place — which, outside of potentially allowing him to win his second Golden Boot award, can provide little more than moral victories. England stars Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham were not in their squad's starting lineup and did not enter at the start of the second half.
-- With files from the Associated Press
