Ousmane Dembélé’s first-half hat-trick powers France to victory over Norway and secure top spot in Group I.
France beat Norway 4-1 to secure top spot in Group I,with Ousmane Dembélé’s first-half hat-trick proving decisive as Les Bleus completed a dominant display and advanced to the Round of 32 as group winners.
France put up a dominating display throughout the game, claiming possession and ball control throughout the first half of the game, retaining 71% of the ball compared to Norway’s 29%. This sustained territorial control allowed Les Bleus to smoothly choke out Norway’s transition play and systematically feed their front line.
France took an early lead just 7minutes into the game through Ousmane Dembélé, who received an assist from Kylian Mbappé and beat the Norwegian goalkeeper with a close-range shot placed into the left side of the net.
The Frenchmen set the pace even higher by doubling their lead in the 20th minute, once again through Dembélé, He found the back of the net by latching onto another assist from Kylian Mbappé, securing his brace within the opening quarter of the match.
Norway responded to the pressure and scored just a minute after Dembélé doubled the lead for France through Thelo Aasgaard, by converting a precise assist from Andreas Schjelderup to bring the score to 2-1.
Dembélé restored the two goal lead for France in the 32nd minute, with an assist from Aurelian Tchouaméni. He completed his first-half hat-trick in the 32nd minute, firing France to a two-goal lead.
He has now scored 9 senior international goals for France. Before today’s 2026 FIFA World Cup match against Norway, his international tally stood at 6 career goals. His fast-paced first-half hat trick officially elevated his grand total for Les Bleus to 9 senior goals.
The Norwegians got an opportunity to close the gap when they got awarded a penalty in the 48th minute, following a tackle on Oscar Bobb in the penalty box, but were unable to capitalize on it due to Strand Larsen missing the target from the spot.
Désiré Doué scored another goal at stoppage time, a carefully guided header into the top right corner to seal France’s 4-1 victory.
This win secures France the top spot in Group I at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, allowing them to advance to the Round of 32 as group winners. Despite the loss, Norway finishes second in Group I and still safely advances to the 2026 FIFA World Cup Round of 32. They had already secured their qualification before kickoff after winning their first two group matches against Iraq and Senegal.