Ousmane Dembélé scored a first-half hat trick to lead France to a 4-1 victory over Norway in their final group stage match of the World Cup on Friday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The French side secured the top spot in Group I with nine points, extending their tournament tally to 10 goals across three matches, while Norway advanced as runners-up with six points.
Dembélé’s goals came rapidly, with strikes in the seventh, 20th, and 32nd minutes. This feat marked one of the quickest opening-half hat tricks in World Cup history, the first since Oleg Salenko’s hat trick in 1994 and nearly matching Austria's Erich Probst’s 1954 record of three goals within 24 minutes. Mbappé assisted Dembélé’s opener, demonstrating a collaborative attacking effort for the French team. Desire Doue added a late goal during stoppage time to complete the scoring.
The match was notably affected by substantial squad rotations from both sides. Norway’s coach Ståle Solbakken rested key players including star striker Erling Haaland, captain Martin Odegaard, and Alexander Sorloth, leaving many regular starters on the bench. Egil Selvik started in goal for Norway instead of Orjan Nyland. This approach aimed to preserve the players ahead of the knockout stage and came after Norway had already secured qualification with earlier wins over Iraq and Senegal. Despite the changes, Norway’s Jorgen Strand Larsen missed a penalty early in the second half.
France also made adjustments, resting Arsenal defender William Saliba due to a back issue, with Maxence Lacroix coming in. The French squad was without head coach Didier Deschamps, who had temporarily left to attend his mother’s funeral but was expected to return to the team on Saturday. Dembélé and Mbappé remained in the starting lineup, with Mbappé making his 101st international appearance and seeking to increase his World Cup goal tally.
Dembélé, who recently won the Ballon d’Or after a positional change at Paris Saint-Germain, shifted between central and right-flank roles during the match, causing persistent problems for the Norwegian defense. Norway managed to reduce the deficit to 3-1 through Thelo Aasgaard’s strike just after halftime, but France quickly regained control, maintaining their dominant performance until the final whistle.
Looking ahead, France will remain in the northeastern United States to face a third-place finisher in the Round of 32 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey next Tuesday. Norway will travel to Dallas to meet Ivory Coast on the same day, with their full-strength side expected to return for the knockout phase. Both teams have now progressed beyond the group stage, setting the stage for competitive matches in the tournament’s knockout rounds.