Dembélé hat trick sends France top of Group I with 4-1 win

Ousmane Dembélé turned France’s final Group I match into a showcase, scoring a first-half hat trick in a 4-1 victory over Norway at Boston Stadium that sent France through as group winners. Désiré Doué added a stoppage-time fourth after Thelo Aasgaard had briefly pulled Norway level, but the night belonged to a French attack that looked deeper, faster and more varied than a routine group-stage winner.

Dembélé scored in the 7th, 20th and 32nd minutes, with one of the goals set up by Kylian Mbappé. The sequence mattered as much as the total. France did not rely on a single pattern or a single finisher; it found width, vertical running and enough combination play to keep Norway shifting backward for long stretches. By halftime, the match had already become a statement about France’s attacking ceiling rather than just a ticket into the knockout rounds.

France entered the match already assured of a place in the round of 16, but the performance suggested more than progression. FIFA had moved France up to second in its ranking before kickoff, and this was the sort of display that gives that status weight: control of tempo, decisive finishing and scoring from multiple players. Dembélé arrived at the World Cup after helping Paris Saint-Germain win the UEFA Champions League in 2025 and 2026, and his sharpness against Norway was a reminder of how dangerous France becomes when its wide forwards and midfield runners are synchronized.

Norway offered a different test, but not a full-strength one. Erling Haaland did not start, and ESPN’s live coverage described Norway as a much-changed side, with Burley later criticizing the selection approach as a “defeatist attitude.” Even so, Aasgaard’s 21st-minute equalizer briefly asked a real question of France, and France answered immediately with another wave of pressure and another Dembélé goal. That response, more than the final margin, is what will linger for opponents studying France in the knockout rounds.

For France, the 4-1 scoreline also carried historical weight. ESPN noted that France won the 2018 World Cup and lost the final four years later, which made topping the group in 2026 more than a formality. It was a demonstration that France is not just advancing in the tournament, but advancing with the kind of attacking depth that can travel into the harder games ahead.