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Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé scored one of the earliest hat-tricks in World Cup history on Friday to power France to a 4-1 victory over a second-string Norway side.
The Paris Saint-Germain forward opened the scoring in the seventh minute at Gillette Stadium near Boston, struck again in the 20th minute, and completed his hat-trick in the 32nd minute.
Dembélé now trails only Austria’s Erich Probst, who scored three goals within 24 minutes against Czechoslovakia in 1954, for the earliest World Cup hat-trick.
Desiré Doué added a fourth goal in stoppage time, sealing a perfect nine-point group stage for Les Bleus, who now advance to the round of 32 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey next Tuesday.
The emotional victory occurred without head coach Didier Deschamps, who temporarily returned to France to attend his mother’s funeral. Deschamps plans to rejoin the squad on Saturday before he steps down at the end of the tournament.
On the pitch, France dominated the match despite resting defender William Saliba due to a sore back.
Dembélé’s stellar performance relieved some of the pressure on captain Kylian Mbappé, who set up Dembélé’s first goal while earning his 101st international cap.
Norway already secured their passage to the knockout stage before kickoff, prompting coach Ståle Solbakken to make 10 changes to his starting lineup.
Solbakken rested superstars Erling Haaland, Martin Ødegaard, and Alexander Sørloth ahead of their next-round match against the Ivory Coast in Dallas.
Despite the heavy rotation, Norway briefly fought back when Rangers midfielder Thelo Aasgaard scored a low strike to make it 2-1.
However, Dembélé quickly answered with his third goal, and French goalkeeper Mike Maignan later protected the lead by saving a second-half penalty from Jørgen Strand Larsen.
