Kylian Mbappe became the top scorer in World Cup history on Saturday when he netted his second goal in the third-place play-off against England to take his tally to 22.
The Frenchman, who has scored his goals over three World Cups, is now one ahead of Argentina's Lionel Messi, who will play in Sunday's final against Spain.
The French forward also finished the 2026 World Cup with 10 goals, moving two ahead of Messi in the race for the Golden Boot, awarded to the tournament's leading scorer.
However, Messi, who has scored eight goals in the tournament, still has an opportunity to reduce the gap when defending champions Argentina face Spain in Monday's World Cup final.
Speaking after the match, Mbappe said the personal achievement meant little compared to missing out on the final.
"I would have preferred not to be the top scorer in history and to be playing in tomorrow's match," he told Fox Sports.
France had hoped to reach a third consecutive World Cup final but were eliminated by Spain in the semifinals.
Mbappe, who also won the Golden Boot at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar with eight goals, is on course to become the first player to claim the award twice if he remains the tournament's top scorer after Monday's final.
His 10-goal haul in this edition equals the third-highest total in a single World Cup. France's Just Fontaine still holds the record with 13 goals in 1958, followed by Hungary's Sandor Kocsis with 11 in 1954, while Germany's Gerd Muller also scored 10 goals in 1970.
France trailed 4-0 at halftime before launching an impressive comeback. Mbappe opened the scoring for Les Bleus in the 48th minute and struck again in the 66th minute to set the career World Cup scoring record. Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembele also found the net, while Michael Olise provided two assists to take his tournament total to seven, setting a new World Cup record for assists.
Reflecting on the performance, Mbappe admitted France had fallen well below expectations in the opening half.
"There were two completely different halves. We were stunned in the first half and paid the price. We responded after the break, but it was too late," he said.
The match also marked the end of Didier Deschamps' 14-year tenure as France head coach. Mbappe said the players were disappointed they could not give their coach a winning farewell.
"It's unfortunate for the coach because we wanted to win for him. The first half may give the impression that we let him down, but that's not how we wanted his final match to be remembered," he said.
Deschamps, who guided France to the 2018 World Cup title and the 2022 final, described his time in charge as the most rewarding period of his career.
"It is the end of a remarkable journey. Since taking charge in 2012, I have always put the French national team first," he said.
The French Football Federation is widely expected to appoint former France captain Zinedine Zidane as Deschamps' successor in the coming days.
