Ousmane Dembele fired a hat-trick in the first-half as France topped World Cup Group I with a convincing 4-1 win over second-string Norway on Friday, who along with France have already made it to last-34 of the tournament.
The France winger produced a stunning first-half performance, scoring a hat-trick in just 25 minutes to help the 2018 world champions and 2022 runners-up book their place in the Round of 32 in style.
Before the match, the France squad had promised to win all three group games as a tribute to head coach Didier Deschamps, who returned to France to attend his mother’s funeral.
“We really wanted to do it for Didier and give our best,” said assistant coach Guy Stephan, who has worked alongside Deschamps since their days at Olympique de Marseille. “I’ll speak to him later, and he’ll be delighted.”
By finishing top of the group, France will face Sweden in the Round of 32, while runners-up Norway take on Ivory Coast. Deschamps is expected to rejoin the squad on Saturday as preparations begin for the knockout stage.
Although both France and Norway had already secured qualification before Friday’s game, France were determined to finish first and benefit from an easier travel schedule in the tournament.
Norway coach Stale Solbakken made several changes to his starting line-up, resting almost all of the players who featured against Senegal earlier in the week. That included star striker Erling Haaland and captain Martin Odegaard.
France came flying out of the blocks. Kylian Mbappe nearly opened the scoring within 20 seconds, rattling the crossbar with a powerful shot from a tight angle.
The breakthrough came in the seventh minute when Mbappe delivered a superb cross-field pass to Dembele. The winger beat his defender with quick footwork before firing past goalkeeper Egil Selvik.
Dembele doubled the lead in the 20th minute after another excellent pass from Mbappe. He found a yard of space inside the box and finished with a dipping effort.
Norway responded almost immediately through Thelo Aasgaard, but France quickly restored their control. In the 32nd minute, Dembele curled a low shot into the bottom corner to complete his hat-trick.
The treble made Dembele only the third French player to score a World Cup hat-trick, following Just Fontaine in the 1950s and Mbappe. It was also the second-fastest hat-trick in World Cup history, behind Austria’s Erich Probst, who achieved the feat in 24 minutes against Czechoslovakia in 1954.
Norway had a chance to get back into the match early in the second half, but Jorgen Strand Larsen’s penalty was comfortably saved by Mike Maignan.
Oscar Bobb also tested the French goalkeeper as Norway briefly threatened, exposing a few weaknesses in France’s defence.
However, France sealed the victory in the closing minutes when Desire Doue headed home from Bradley Barcola’s cross to make it 4-1 and cap off another impressive performance.
