Norway 1-4 France
France set down a World Cup marker on Friday in their final Group I match with a thoroughly entertaining 3-1 victory over Norway to make it three wins from three.
There was no tea party in Boston on Friday afternoon but there was a glut of World Cup 2026 highlights to keep the fans entertained in a first half which ended 3-1 to Les Bleus as Ousmane Dembele fired a 32-minute hat-trick, with an answer from Thelo Aasgaard. The second half was a more tranquil affair with the game done in that explosive first 45 as Desire Doue’s late header was France’s first effort on target since Dembele’s third.
Despite defeat Norway have gone through to the Round of 32 too and while France are one of the favourites to win the tournament, with six points from three games the Vikings can certainly be counted as worthy dark horses.
Highlights of the game
Both managers rested some key players for this game but while Kylian Mbappe started for Les Bleus Erling Haaland began on the bench for Norway which may have worried the Manchester City man who is in pursuit of the Golden Boot, on four goals alongside Mbappe and one behind Lionel Messi. The France captain was twice in goal action in the first half, but as an assist provider rather than a scorer. His first contribution came on seven minutes as a brilliant sweeping pass across the pitch found Dembele, and the Ballon D’or winner moved the ball from right to left before firing it onto the far corner.
And it was the same combination on 20 minutes as Mbappe released Dembele down the right again and the Paris Saint-Germain star fired another brilliant shot into the corner.
Norway hit back within a minute with a classy goal of their own, Thelo Aasgaard cutting inside Dayot Upamecano and firing his shot low into the net. But there was no keeping Dembele out of the action and he completed his first half hat-trick and made it 3-1 to France with a carbon copy of the first two, picking the ball up on the right, shifting the ball onto his left foot and curling his shot into the far corner.
Sensational from Dembele and a chilling warning to all of France’s rivals.
The second half began with a twist as Oscar Bobb weaved his way into the France penalty area and was felled by Theo Hernandez. The referee pointed to the spot and in the absence of Haaland, it was left to Jorgen Strand Larsen to take the responsibility; but the Crystal Palace man stuttered in his run up and hit an awful spot kick easily saved by Mike Maignan.
Midway through the second half Didier Deschamps pulled off Dembele to a standing ovation and brought on Rayan Cherki…not a bad replacement!
But France didn’t seem anxious to take risks and go for more goals while Norway continued to probe, and Bobb had a superb chance with just Maignan to beat, but his shot from 15 yards was weak. And that was Norway’s last hope as Doue took the game away with his late header.
Key statistics
Ousmane Dembele waited 19 games for a World Cup goal and now he has bagged four in two games to climb alongside Mbappe and Haaland in the race for the Golden Boot.
This was the third hat-trick of the 2026 World Cup after Canada’s Jonathan David and Argentina’s magician Messi, and the first hat-trick in the first half of a World Cup game since the last USA tournament in 1994, when Oleg Salenko scored three in Russia’s 6-1 win over Cameroon, ending the game with five.
All 11 France players had a touch in the move which brought Dembele his third goal in a superb display of free-flowing football.
What’s next?
As well as France there are other European sides on the march. The Netherlands have been impressive as have England and Spain in patches. The SBOTOP World Cup 2026 betting odds have France neck and neck with Spain and Argentina to lift the title and arguably Les Bleus have been the most impressive of the three.
Next up, on Saturday there are three more groups to be settled and in Group H there’s a superb tussle going on for the second and third places as Uruguay, Saudi Arabia and Cape Verde are all hoping to join Spain in the Round of 32.
In Group G Belgium are looking for a first win of the tournament against New Zealand to earn their place in the knockouts with Egypt and Iran still vying for a place. And then Croatia are looking for a point against Ghana to qualify from Group L while already qualified England play Panama, aiming to top the group.
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