Ballon d’Or holder, Ousmane Dembele, produced a stunning first-half hat-trick as France cruised to a 4-1 victory over a heavily rotated Norway side at Boston Stadium on Friday, securing top spot in Group I with a perfect record.
The Paris Saint-Germain attacker opened the scoring in the seventh minute, doubled France’s lead after 20 minutes and completed his treble in the 32nd minute.
Between his second and third goals, Thelo Aasgaard briefly reduced the deficit for Norway.
Dembele’s hat-trick ranks among the quickest in World Cup history. Only Austria’s Erich Probst reached the milestone earlier, netting three times within the opening 24 minutes against Czechoslovakia in 1954.
The French forward now has four goals at the tournament after also finding the net in Monday’s 3-0 victory over Iraq. His performance also highlighted France’s attacking depth, easing the burden on captain Kylian Mbappe.
Desire Doue added a late fourth goal as Les Bleus completed the group stage with nine points from three matches, scoring 10 goals along the way.
France will remain in the northeastern United States for a last-32 clash against a third-placed team at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Tuesday.
The victory came during an emotional period for France. Head coach Didier Deschamps was absent after returning home to attend his mother’s funeral.
The long-serving manager, who is expected to step down after the World Cup following 14 years in charge, is due to rejoin the squad on Saturday.
Norway, already assured of qualification following victories over Iraq and Senegal, advanced as runners-up with six points. Coach Stale Solbakken made 10 changes to the side that defeated Senegal 3-2, resting several key players.
Among those left on the bench were Erling Haaland, captain Martin Odegaard and striker Alexander Sorloth, while Benfica midfielder Fredrik Aursnes was the only starter retained from the previous match.
France also rotated their squad, with Maxence Lacroix replacing William Saliba, who was rested because of a back issue. Theo Hernandez, Aurelien Tchouameni and Doue returned to the starting lineup.
Mbappe earned his 101st international cap and sought to add to his tally of 16 World Cup goals, but it was Dembele who stole the show.
The 29-year-old struck first after being released by Mbappe, cutting in from the right before firing beyond goalkeeper Egil Selvik.
He doubled the lead with a curling effort into the far corner before Aasgaard responded immediately for Norway with a low finish past Mike Maignan.
Dembele restored France’s two-goal cushion moments later, curling another left-footed effort into the bottom corner to complete his hat-trick.
Although not the fastest hat-trick ever recorded at a World Cup — Hungary’s Laszlo Kiss scored three goals in under eight minutes against El Salvador in 1982, Dembele joined an elite list of French players to achieve the feat. Before him, only Just Fontaine, who managed it twice in 1958, and Mbappe, in the 2022 final, had scored World Cup hat-tricks for France.
Norway had an opportunity to narrow the gap in the second half when Oscar Bobb was fouled by Hernandez inside the penalty area.
However, Jorgen Strand Larsen’s spot-kick was comfortably saved by Maignan.
Doue completed the scoring in stoppage time with a header to cap another dominant French display.
Reflecting on the result, Dembele stressed the importance of finishing first in the group.
“We want to win every match, and we’ll keep our focus because what’s coming next is even more important,” he told reporters after the game.
France assistant coach Guy Stephan also paid tribute to Deschamps while praising his team’s performance.
“As for the game, we did what we needed to do. There was a lot of enjoyment in the way we played, plenty of intensity and plenty of chances,” he said.
“That said, there were also moments when we weren’t quite at our best and we need to iron those out.”
