FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- France forward Ousmane Dembélé scored a first-half hat trick, including one off an assist from Kylian Mbappé, to help his team to a 4-1 win over Norway at the World Cup on Friday.
Dembélé's goals came in the seventh, 20th and 32nd minutes. It was the first first-half hat trick at the World Cup since Russia forward Oleg Salenko scored three of his five goals in the opening 45 minutes against Cameroon at the 1994 World Cup in the United States.
The win gave top honors in Group I to France, who finished with nine points after winning all three games in the group stage. Norway finished second in the group on six points.
"I'm happy. It's a unique and special moment for me," Dembélé said after the game. "But I preferred my performances against Iraq and Senegal. I was much more influential."
In the round of 32, Norway will face Ivory Coast in Dallas, while France will play a third-place finisher yet to be determined in New Jersey.
The matchup with Norway -- with first place in Group I on the line -- was billed as a Golden Boot showdown between Erling Haaland and Mbappé, but Haaland was rested and it was Dembélé who stole the show with three well-taken goals before the break.
The showing put Dembélé squarely into the race for the World Cup's top scorer along with Haaland, Mbappé, Vinícius Júnior and Lionel Messi.
Norway coach Ståle Solbakken all but conceded the group win to France when he made a host of changes to his regular starting XI to rest his players -- including the prolific Haaland -- ahead of the team's already-secured spot in the round of 32.
Dembélé, who won Ballon d'Or as Europe's top player in 2025 and has now scored four goals at this year's World Cup, left the game in the 65th minute. He was replaced by Bradley Barcola.
"We have to stay focused. It was an important game to top the group," Dembélé added. "We want to win every game and what's coming up next will be even more difficult. We have quality players on the pitch and on the bench. And it's the communication we have, between the forwards, it's easier.
"We understand each other better so we have to continue."
Paris Saint-Germain star Désiré Doué scored late in the second half to seal the three-goal win over Norway for Didier Deschamps' side.
The breakthrough came after just seven minutes as Mbappé's superb crossfield pass released Dembélé, who weaved inside and out before firing home.
Mbappé created Dembele's second in the 20th minute by shrugging off Leo Ostigard before picking out the winger, who cut inside and curled a superb effort beyond Egil Selvik.
France had barely finished celebrating when Norway replied. Andreas Schjelderup released Thelo Aasgaard, whose body swerve wrong-footed two defenders before he fired past Mike Maignan.
Dembélé completed his treble after a patient team move, once again cutting inside to curl a shot into the far corner.
The fastest World Cup hat trick took only 7 minutes, 42 seconds. Hungary striker László Kiss, who had come on as a substitute, managed that feat late in the match against El Salvador at the 1982 World Cup in Spain.
The quickest World Cup hat trick from the start of the match occurred at the 1954 tournament in Switzerland when Austria striker Erich Probst scored his three goals in the opening 24 minutes against Czechoslovakia.
France, who won the World Cup in 2018 and lost in the final four years ago, had already secured their place in the knockout round before Friday's match.
Information from The Associated Press and PA was used in this report.
We have to stay focus. It was an important game to top the group. We want to win every game and what's coming up next will be even more difficult. We have quality players on the pitch and on the bench. And we it's the communication we have, between the forwards, it's easier. We understand each other better so we have to continue.
