Norway 1-4 France: Ousmane Dembele hat-trick fires ruthless Les Bleus to top of Group I
Ousmane Dembele hits a breathtaking first-half hat-trick as France defeat Norway 4-1 in Boston to secure top spot in Group I and continue their perfect start.
Ousmane Dembele produced a vintage wing masterclass as France dismantled Norway 4-1 at the Boston Stadium to secure top spot in World Cup Group I with a flawless group-stage record.
With both nations already assured of a place in the Round of 32, Norway manager Stale Solbakken opted for a heavily rotated side, leaving superstars Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard on the bench. Les Bleus, marshaled by assistant coach Guy Stephan in the absence of Didier Deschamps, ruthlessly capitalised on the experimental Norwegian XI, driven forward by a sensational 25-minute hat-trick from Dembele.
France signaled their intent after just 25 seconds when Kylian Mbappe rattled the crossbar with a ferocious drive. The breakthrough arrived in the seventh minute when Mbappe turned provider, picking out Dembele with a sublime crossfield ball. The Paris Saint-Germain forward cut inside from the right flank before flashing a trademark left-footed strike into the far corner.
Dembele doubled his and France’s tally in the 20th minute with an even more eye-catching effort, drifting inward to unleash a venomous drive from outside the area that left goalkeeper Egil Selvik completely helpless.
Remarkably, Norway hit back immediately straight from the ensuing kickoff. Midfielder Thelo Aasgaard left Dayot Upamecano stranded with a clever dummy on the edge of the area before drilling a crisp low strike past a wrong-footed Mike Maignan to briefly offer the underdogs hope.
However, any thoughts of a dramatic comeback were firmly extinguished just 11 minutes later. Dembele completed the second-fastest hat-trick in World Cup history by once again exploiting space on the right, calmly rolling a precise finish past Selvik’s right-hand post to claim the match ball before the half-time whistle had even blown.
Norway had a golden opportunity to creep back into the contest early in the second half when they were awarded a penalty, but Jorgen Strand Larsen saw his spot-kick brilliantly turned away by Maignan to preserve France’s two-goal cushion.
Stephan used the second half to ring the changes, withdrawing Dembele and Mbappe to protect his stars for the knockout rounds. The substitutes combined to put the final gloss on a dominant performance four minutes into stoppage time, as Bradley Barcola floated a cross into the center of the box for Desire Doue to glance a fine header into the bottom corner.
The victory means France have won all three of their World Cup group stage games for the first time since lifting the trophy on home soil in 1998, laying down a formidable marker to the rest of the tournament.
