FOXBOROUGH, United States, June 27, (V7N) – Ousmane Dembele scored one of the earliest hat-tricks in World Cup history on Friday, starring in France's 4-1 victory over a second-string Norway side as Erling Haaland watched on from the bench.

The Paris Saint-Germain forward opened the scoring in the seventh minute at Gillette Stadium near Boston, struck again on 20 minutes, and after Thelo Aasgaard pulled one back for Norway, Dembele made it 3-1 in the 32nd minute. Only Erich Probst of Austria (1954) has completed a World Cup hat-trick earlier, getting three inside the first 24 minutes against Czechoslovakia.

Dembele now has four goals at the tournament, adding to his strike in the 3-0 win over Iraq on Monday, and his display may ease some of the pressure on captain Kylian Mbappe to always be France's match-winner. Desire Doue completed the scoring late on as France ended the group stage with maximum points (nine), scoring 10 goals in three games to advance as Group I winners. They will stay in the northeastern USA for a last-32 tie against a third-place finisher at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey next Tuesday.

The match was emotionally charged for Les Bleus, who played without coach Didier Deschamps after he returned to France for his mother's funeral. Deschamps, who will step down after the World Cup following 14 years in charge, is due back on Saturday.

Norway, who also saw Jorgen Strand Larsen have a penalty saved, go through in second place with six points, their progress already secured before this game. Coach Stale Solbakken made 10 changes to his starting line-up, resting Haaland, captain Martin Odegaard, and striker Alexander Sorloth—only Fredrik Aursnes was retained from the win over Senegal. The regulars will return for their next-round clash against Ivory Coast in Dallas next Tuesday.

France were without Arsenal defender William Saliba (sore back), so Maxence Lacroix started, while Doue, Theo Hernandez, and Aurelien Tchouameni returned. Dembele and Mbappe both kept their places, with Mbappe winning his 101st cap and eyeing Lionel Messi's overall tournament record of 18 goals (he has 16).

But Dembele stole the headlines. Mbappe released him for the early opener as Dembele cut in from the right, dropped a shoulder, and fired across goalkeeper Egil Selvik. He scored his second by cutting infield and curling a low left-footed shot into the far corner. After Aasgaard pulled one back with a low strike straight from the restart, Dembele curled in his third—again on his left foot into the same bottom corner—from inside the area.

His three goals in 25 first-half minutes is not the fastest World Cup hat-trick (Laszlo Kiss of Hungary needed less than eight minutes in 1982), but Dembele now joins Just Fontaine (twice in 1958) and Mbappe (2022 final) as the only French players with World Cup hat-tricks. Norway could have pulled one back early in the second half after Oscar Bobb was tripped by Hernandez, but Strand Larsen's poor penalty was saved by Mike Maignan. Doue then headed in France's fourth in stoppage time.

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