Ousmane Dembélé scored a stunning hat-trick inside 25 minutes as France brushed aside a much-changed Norway side 4-1 to seal top spot in Group I at the World Cup.
The Paris Saint-Germain winger tore apart a Norwegian defence that had been stripped of its key players. Erling Haaland was rested, and manager Ståle Solbakken rotated 10 of his starting lineup, leaving the team disjointed and vulnerable. Dembélé capitalised ruthlessly, cutting inside repeatedly and finding the same corner with his left foot, as Norway’s goalkeeper Egil Selvik watched the ball fly past him three times in the first half.
“Dembélé hat-trick seals France's 4-1 win over Norway, topping Group I despite Deschamps' absence.”
France’s victory came despite the absence of head coach Didier Deschamps, who flew home to France after the death of his mother. Long-time assistant Guy Stephan took charge, and his side delivered a performance that left the tournament’s other contenders asking: does anyone have the defensive strength to deny this hyper-mobile, supremely varied French attack?
The match at Boston Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, had been billed as a clash between Kylian Mbappé and Haaland, but Norway’s mass rotation defused that narrative. Instead, France’s attack used the corners of Selvik’s goal for shooting practice in a jarringly open first half. Dembélé’s treble was his first hat-trick in a France shirt, and it came with the economy and precision of a man who knows exactly where he wants to place the ball.
The win means France become only the second team to win all three group games at this summer’s World Cup. They will now travel to New Jersey for their last-32 tie on Tuesday. Norway, meanwhile, head to Texas to face Côte d’Ivoire, their late-stage hopes dented by the sight of their second-string defence being dismantled in front of their eyes.