Juste Fontaine - scorer of 13 goals in 1958 - hit the target four times during a 6-3 win for France over West Germany.
The result offered little comfort to his team-mates following their 5-2 loss to eventual winners Brazil in the semi-finals.
But it helped Fontaine beat the previous tournament best of 11 goals - set by Sandor Kocsis in 1954 - and etched his name into the record books.
Since then, Eusebio, Grzegorz Lato, Toto Schillaci and Davor Suker - during France 98 - have sealed their legendary status with strikes in the play-off game.
Historically, the less fancied team has done well in the third-place play-off.
Buoyed by giantkilling memories from earlier in the tournament, they tend to play with less regret than the side that was expected to reach the final.
And they use the occasion to show the world again that they belong in football's elite.
Poland, for example, have twice lost in the World Cup semi-finals.
But, as over-achievers in 1974 and 1982, they rebounded on both occasions to snatch third place at the expense of bitterly-disappointed opponents Brazil and France.
Similarly, at the last World Cup, shock semi-finalists Croatia reacted better to missing out on the final than the supremely-talented Holland squad.
As painful as home defeat in the semi-finals invariably is, there is slightly more onus on the hosts to put in one more strong performance in front of their fans.
When Korea take to the field on Saturday, they will become the third home team to play the consolation game.