France tops group as Dembélé hat-trick sinks Norway, 4-1

Ousmane Dembélé shredded Norway’s defense with a first-half hat-trick and France finished a 4-1 win at Boston Stadium with first place in Group I and three victories from three. The score sent France into the knockout phase, but the tone around the team was measured rather than jubilant, with Guy Stéphan describing a side that wanted control without slipping into overconfidence.

Dembélé’s burst made the match feel over before halftime. FIFA described the Paris forward’s treble as the second-fastest hat-trick in World Cup history, trailing only Erich Probst’s strike for Austria in 1954. France used that opening surge to put distance between itself and a Norway side that could not recover, even as the result reinforced how sharply Didier Deschamps’ team has handled the group stage.

The backdrop remained impossible to ignore. Deschamps did not sit on the bench or oversee training before the game after the Fédération Française de Football announced on June 23, 2026, that his mother had died. The federation expressed its support for Deschamps and his family, and Stéphan, Deschamps’ assistant since 2009, took charge for the final stretch of group play.

That arrangement gave France a familiar voice in the technical area at a moment when composure mattered as much as tactics. Stéphan’s presence helped steady a squad that entered the tournament as the runner-up from the previous World Cup, with Kylian Mbappé wearing the captain’s armband and carrying the expectation that France could again challenge for the title.

The caution in the celebration matched the circumstances. France’s place atop Group I was secure after wins over Norway, Senegal and Iraq, but the team’s response centered on restraint, not spectacle. The result mattered because it was dominant and because it arrived under strain, with Deschamps absent and France still navigating the emotional weight around him while protecting itself from the complacency that can follow a lopsided victory.