Dembele Hat-Trick Powers France Past Norway 4-1

France stormed into the World Cup knockout stage with a commanding 4-1 victory over Norway on Friday, powered by a brilliant first-half hat-trick from Ousmane Dembele.

The French forward delivered one of the fastest hat-tricks in World Cup history, scoring three goals inside 25 first-half minutes as France completed the group stage with a perfect nine points.

Dembele opened the scoring in the seventh minute at Gillette Stadium near Boston after being released by Kylian Mbappe. The Paris Saint-Germain star cut in from the right before firing a clinical finish past goalkeeper Egil Selvik.

He doubled France’s lead in the 20th minute with another superb strike, curling a low effort into the far corner after drifting inside from the flank.

Norway briefly reduced the deficit through Thelo Aasgaard, who capitalised on a lapse in the French defence to score immediately after the restart.

But Dembele responded in devastating fashion, completing his hat-trick in the 32nd minute with another composed finish to restore France’s two-goal cushion.

The 29-year-old now has four goals in the tournament and joined an elite group of French players to score a World Cup hat-trick, following Just Fontaine and Kylian Mbappe.

Desire Doue sealed the win in stoppage time with France’s fourth goal, capping another dominant display from Didier Deschamps’ side.

France have now scored 10 goals in three group matches and advance as Group I winners. They will face a third-placed team in the last 32 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey next week.

The victory came on an emotional day for France, who were without head coach Didier Deschamps after he returned home to attend his mother’s funeral.

Norway, already assured of qualification before kickoff, rotated heavily with key players Erling Haaland, Martin Odegaard and Alexander Sorloth all rested.

Despite the defeat, Norway progressed as group runners-up with six points and will face Ivory Coast in the next round.

Norway had a chance to reduce the deficit early in the second half, but Jorgen Strand Larsen saw his penalty saved by Mike Maignan.

France remained in control throughout and underlined their title credentials with another convincing performance as Dembele stole the spotlight with a memorable hat-trick.