Football Jun 29, 2026

World Cup 2026: Norway 1-4 France - Ousmane Dembele scores first-half hat-trick as Les Bleus top Group I

👤
By Admin
Sports Journalist
World Cup 2026: Norway 1-4 France - Ousmane Dembele scores first-half hat-trick as Les Bleus top Group I

Ousmane Dembele's 25-minute hat-trick allowed France to comfortably beat Norway's second string 4-1 and complete a perfect Group I campaign.

With qualification already secured for both sides, and only top spot to play for, Norway made 10 changes - leaving Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard on the bench - and it showed.

Their back-up defenders were given a warning as Kylian Mbappe hit the bar inside 22 seconds, but Dembele then struck in the seventh and 20th minutes by finding the same bottom corner.

Seventy-nine seconds after Dembele's second, Norway pulled one back as Thelo Aagsaard - who has a French mother - pulled one back from the edge of the box. But Dembele completed his hat-trick by finding that corner a third time. All three goals saw questionable Norway defending.

Norway missed a chance to pull one back after half-time when they got a penalty after Oscar Bobb was tripped by a lazy Theo Hernandez challenge, but Jorgen Strand Larsen's weak spot kick after a stutter was easily saved by Mike Maignan.

There was gloss to the scoreline in added time as Desire Doue nodded in his first goal of the tournament from substitute Bradley Barcola's cross.

France will face one of the third-placed teams - which is most likely to be Sweden - on Tuesday June 30, kick-off at 10pm in New Jersey.

Norway will face Ivory Coast on Tuesday June 30 at 6pm in Dallas, Texas.

Your Site' Roy Keane on ITV:

"Norway were focusing on the knockout game next week. They stuck at it, had good goalscoring opportunities themselves, but they found France too much, particularly the attacking players.

"France scored four and could have got a couple of more. If they keep up their tally of 10 goals in three games - they will be very difficult to stop.

"Going forward, they are the best in the competition. It's about having good habits and traits.

"What top players do is dictate where you're going to go. The only concern is when Dembele gets the ball in those areas, you've got to get out to him.

"It's the beauty of the French team, they can keep possession, every one gets a touch on the ball as we saw with their third goal. But they can also have one or two passes and they're through on goal. They can break you down with possession, and counter-attack. They are two great strengths to have.

"Particularly their wide players - if you can go past people one-vs-one, it can change the picture. We have seen that England have players who struggle to do that, but if you have three or four players in your group that can go past people, it makes things a lot easier."

Norway head coach Stale Solbakken:

"Now it's about charging up the batteries - remember that the ​break we had from the last game is the shortest the ⁠team has had in the tournament, and now a new game is coming up in four days.

"The only argument for not doing what we did [resting ⁠10 players] is that the fans around Norway ​and here could have seen Erling and [captain] Martin [Odegaard].

"But then it ​wouldn't be a long World Cup, and that's what we're here for - we're here to go as far as possible."

Tags:

football report

Share this article

Related Posts

Sky Sports+ for EFL: Fixtures, channel and subscription - how to watch or stream your football team this season

Sky Sports+ for EFL: Fixtures, channel and subscription - how to watch or stream your football team this season

Here's everything you need to know about how to watch your EFL team throughout the 2026/27 season with Your Site or NOW. Every Championship, League On...

Alfred Johansson: New Motherwell manager confident Fir Park club can build on last season's success in Scottish Premiership

Alfred Johansson: New Motherwell manager confident Fir Park club can build on last season's success in Scottish Premiership

New Motherwell manager Alfred Johansson expects his team to continue performing the way they did last season under Jens Berthel Askou and build on tha...

World Cup 2026: Why the debate surrounding Jude Bellingham for England remains ahead of Ghana game

World Cup 2026: Why the debate surrounding Jude Bellingham for England remains ahead of Ghana game

For many, the debate about who should be England's No 10 at this World Cup is now over, after Jude Bellingham put in a 10/10 performance against Croat...

Lucas Bergvall transfer news: Tottenham midfielder asks to leave Premier League club in search for first-team football

Lucas Bergvall transfer news: Tottenham midfielder asks to leave Premier League club in search for first-team football

Sweden midfielder Lucas Bergvall has asked to leave Tottenham Hotspur this summer.The 20-year-old, who is currently with his country at the World Cup,...

Cape Verde at the World Cup: African nation have gained the hearts of the world as everyone's second team after brave draw with Uruguay

Cape Verde at the World Cup: African nation have gained the hearts of the world as everyone's second team after brave draw with Uruguay

Those waking up on Monday morning in the UK will look at one particular result and be stunned. "Cape Verde did it again?!" was probably your reaction....

Sandro Tonali transfer news: Tottenham's £80m bid rejected by Newcastle for Italy midfielder

Sandro Tonali transfer news: Tottenham's £80m bid rejected by Newcastle for Italy midfielder

Newcastle have rejected an offer from Tottenham of around £80m for Sandro Tonali. Spurs' offer landed earlier this week and was knocked back by Newcas...