France forward Ousmane Dembélé scores first-half World Cup hat trick in 4-1 win over Norway
Loading article...
-
France's Ousmane Dembélé celebrates with Kylian Mbappe, right, after scoring his side's third goal during the World Cup Group I football match between Norway and France in Foxborough, Mass., near Boston, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
-
France's Jules Kounde (5) plays the ball against Norway's Andreas Schjelderup (21) during the World Cup Group I football match between Norway and France in Foxborough, Mass., near Boston, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — France forward Ousmane Dembélé scored a first-half hat trick, including one off a feed from Kylian Mbappé, to help his team beat Norway 4-1 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.
Désiré Doué scored France’s final goal in second-half injury time.
Dembélé, who won the 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.
Thelo Aasgaard got Norway on the scoreboard after Dembélé’s second goal, finding the back of the net only 14 seconds after the restart.
But Dembélé added his third goal less than nine minutes later to push the lead back to two.
Dembélé increased his international goal total to eight, while Mbappe now has 16 goals and four assists in 17 World Cup matches.
He scored two goals in each of France’s wins over Senegal and Iraq.
Erling Haaland was among 10 regular starters absent from Norway’s starting lineup, presumably to rest.
The wholesale changes included Egil Selvik starting in goal in place of Orjan Nyland.
France, which won the World Cup in 2018 and lost in the final four years ago, had already secured its place in the knockout round before Friday’s match.
Norway was also assured of a spot in the round of 32 and ended up in second place in the group.
Follow The Gleaner on X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.