BOSTON — This was supposed to be the night Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland settled their Golden Boot rivalry under the lights at Gillette Stadium. Instead, Ousmane Dembele decided he had other plans entirely.

Twenty-two seconds. That’s how long it took for Mbappe to rattle the crossbar and announce France’s intentions. The warning shot was deafening. Norway’s second-string defence, featuring 10 changes from the side that had beaten Senegal, looked at each other and knew they were in for a long Massachusetts evening.

By the seventh minute, Dembele had already begun his masterpiece. Mbappe, drifting wide right, fed a cross-field pass that found the Paris Saint-Germain winger in acres of space. Three Norwegian defenders converged. It didn’t matter. Dembele cut inside, then outside, then unleashed a right-footed drive that nestled into the bottom corner. Egil Selvik in the Norway goal could only watch.

The second goal, 13 minutes later, was almost a carbon copy — except this time Dembele used his left foot. Mbappe again the provider, Dembele again finding that same bottom corner from the edge of the area. The 2025 Ballon d’Or winner was operating on a different plane of existence. Norway’s defenders were chasing shadows.

Then came the moment that briefly gave Norwegian fans hope. Seventy-nine seconds after Dembele’s second, Thelo Aasgaard — whose mother is French, a detail that adds a layer of poetry to the moment — collected the ball on the edge of the box and steered a clever finish past Mike Maignan. The Viking Row erupted in the stands. For a fleeting moment, Norway believed.

Dembele extinguished that belief in the 32nd minute. His third goal was a mirror image of his second: left foot, edge of the box, same bottom corner. Three goals in 25 minutes. Only Erich Probst of Austria, who scored a hat-trick in 24 minutes against Czechoslovakia in 1954, had ever done it faster at a World Cup. Dembele joined Just Fontaine and Mbappe as the only Frenchmen to score a World Cup treble.

Stale Solbakken’s decision to rest Haaland, Martin Odegaard and nine other regular starters was logical — both teams had already qualified for the Round of 32 — but the gulf in quality between Norway’s first and second string was painfully exposed. This was a French team playing with a purpose beyond mere qualification. Coach Didier Deschamps had returned to France for his mother’s funeral, and his players had promised to deliver a performance worthy of his grief. They delivered that and more.

Norway had their chances to make the scoreline more respectable. Theo Hernandez’s lazy challenge on Oscar Bobb in the 49th minute gifted Norway a penalty, but Jorgen Strand Larsen’s weak effort was comfortably saved by Maignan. Bobb himself was denied by the French goalkeeper in a one-on-one later in the half. On another night, against a less ruthless opponent, those moments might have changed the narrative.

Instead, the final word belonged to France. Deep into stoppage time, substitute Bradley Barcola swung in a cross from the left, and Desire Doue rose to head home his first goal of the tournament. 4-1. A perfect group stage completed: three wins, 10 goals scored, top of Group I.

Dembele’s 25-Minute Hat-Trick Silences Boston as France Top Group I

Group I Standings

France advance as group winners with a perfect nine points. Norway finish second with six. Senegal, who thrashed Iraq 5-0 in Toronto, take third place with three points and await their fate in the best third-placed teams table. Iraq exit with zero points.

France will face Sweden in the Round of 32 on June 30 in New Jersey. Norway meet Ivory Coast the same day in Dallas.

Match Stats

SHARE 𝕏 f W ✉