⚽ FIFA World Cup 2026 · Group I
Norway
NOR
Full time
1-4
France
FRA
2026-06-26 · Foxborough
The verdict“Ousmane Dembele scored a first half hat-trick and turned a group decider into a personal showcase.”
The Performance Review
Ousmane Dembele scored in the seventh, twentieth and thirty second minutes, a complete first half hat-trick, and France were out of sight before the interval. Desire Doue added a fourth in stoppage time, Thelo Aasgaard pulled one back for Norway, and the final 4-1 flattered nobody but France.
France finished the group with a perfect nine points and the swagger of a team that has found its gear early. Dembele in this mood is the kind of problem opponents cannot plan for, because he barely seems to plan for himself.
Norway can take heart that they still advanced as runners up, but for forty five minutes they were extras in someone else's montage. When a man scores three before you have settled, the night stops being a contest and becomes a viewing.
The VAR Tax
No controversy required. You cannot review your way out of a hat-trick that good.
Who Got Burned
Norway's defense, carved open three times before halftime by a single forward, left to watch the replay and wonder which Dembele to mark, since there appeared to be several.
The Bright Side
Norway still progressed as runners up, so the bruise comes with a boarding pass to the knockouts, and neutrals got a first half of pure Dembele to remember.
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