The 2025 Ballon d’Or winner enters the Golden Boot race with a historic treble in Foxborough, while assistant Guy Stephan stands in for mourning Didier Deschamps.
DUBAI: Ousmane Dembele unleashed a historic first-half hat-trick to propel powerhouse France to a commanding 4-1 victory over Norway in their final World Cup group stage clash. The reigning 2025 Ballon d’Or winner was in devastating form alongside superstar partner Kylian Mbappe, helping Les Bleus firmly secure the top spot in their group. The match was played under emotional circumstances as French fans paid tribute to head coach Didier Deschamps, who missed the game following the passing of his mother.
Operating with clinical precision in Foxborough, Dembele shattered the Norwegian defense by finding the back of the net in the 7th, 20th, and 32nd minutes. His spectacular display marked the first opening-half hat-trick recorded at a World Cup since Russia’s Oleg Salenko achieved the feat against Cameroon in 1994. Dembele opened his account by collecting a pass from Mbappe and driving a right-footed strike past Norway’s replacement goalkeeper Egil Selvik. He doubled the lead by dancing through three defenders at the top of the box to fire a left-footer home.
Norway, missing superstar Erling Haaland alongside nine other regular starters who were rested by coach Ståle Solbakken due to a tight schedule, showed flashes of resilience. Just 14 seconds after Dembele’s second goal, Thelo Aasgaard clawed one back for the Norwegians. However, Dembele completed his historic treble less than nine minutes later. Norway had a chance to narrow the deficit early in the second half when Theo Hernandez fouled Oscar Bobb in the box, but French goalkeeper Mike Maignan brilliantly saved Jorgen Strand Larsen’s penalty kick.
Dembele was substituted to a standing ovation in the 65th minute for Bradley Barcola. Youngster Desire Doue then added a final exclamation point for France by scoring their fourth goal deep into second-half injury time. Assistant coach Guy Stephan managed the technical area flawlessly in Deschamps’ absence and confirmed that the head coach would rejoin the squad for Saturday’s training session.
World Cup Knockout Stage Structure: With both footballing nations already safely qualified for the multi-city tournament’s knockout phase prior to kickoff, this final matchday determined their respective paths in the newly expanded Round of 32. France will head to East Rutherford, New Jersey, to take on one of the eight best third-place finishers. Meanwhile, group runners-up Norway will travel to Arlington, Texas, to clash with the Ivory Coast on Tuesday.
