Three Key Takeaways From France’s Emphatic Win, Dembele’s Hat Trick vs. Norway

France punished a largely second-string Norway on Friday, securing an emphatic 4–1 victory at Gillette Stadium to see out a perfect group stage finish, secure the top spot in Group I and earn the right to the easiest possible path to the World Cup crown.

Les Bleus got to work quickly, with Ousmane Dembélé scoring his first of three goals in just the seventh minute of play. Dembélé added his second and third all within the next 25 minutes, closing out an unprecedented interval for the 2025 Ballon d’Or winner.

Although an Erling Haaland-less Norway—employing 10 changes to the starting lineup and largely surrendering any chance of beating the Frenchmen—snuck one by Mike Maignan in the 21st minute, France walked away with all of the momentum. Young star winger Désiré Doué, 21, scored a header in the waning seconds of stoppage time to finish the Norwegians off.

France now turns its attentions to the round of 32 match on Tuesday, when it will face either the third-place finisher of Group F or G at MetLife Stadium and enter as the overwhelming favorite. Manager Didier Deschamps will be overjoyed with his team upon returning to North America, having had to briefly depart the tournament following the death of his mother.

Dazzling Dembele

The flood gates have opened for Dembélé.

The Frenchman had been feeling the pressure heading into this World Cup, failing to score across his first four major tournaments for his country, including his 11 previous World Cup appearances across the 2018 and 2022 editions.

That pressure continued to mount in France’s opener against Senegal, as Dembélé struggled to maneuver within the condensed space the West Africans gave him and never really clicked into gear. It was a performance that only served to increase the doubt and criticism around the star’s tournament capabilities. That negative chatter reached a fever pitch in the first half of France’s second match against Iraq when Dembélé had a subpar start.

Perhaps it was the extremely long interval, delayed by thunderstorms, that gave Dembélé the time for an internal pep-talk, because he re-emerged in the second half with renewed vigor. He assisted Mbappé’s second goal inside the opening 10 minutes before bagging his first career World Cup goal to cap off a dominant 3–0 victory.

That outing proved to be exactly the confidence boost Dembélé needed. He came barreling out from the opening whistle against Norway. It took him less than seven minutes to get on the board, finding the corner netting with a powerful, right-footed shot from just inside the box. He immediately turned to the crowd and made a talking gesture with his hand, as if he to say, “The doubters can talk. It doesn’t bother me one bit.”

The Paris Saint-Germain man soon added a second and third—both curved, left-footed finishes from range, bringing his tally to a whopping four goals this summer and announcing himself emphatically to the Golden Boot race. He is now level with Mbappé and just one behind the leading man, Lionel Messi.

Although scoring a hat-trick is a mighty accomplishment, it was most recently done by a Frenchman just four years ago. Mbappé memorably notched a second half treble in the 2022 World Cup final against Argentina, before France heartbreakingly lost on penalty kicks. Messi recorded his first-career World Cup hat trick in Argentina’s opener against Algeria just last week.

Saliba’s Absence

After playing every minute of France’s first two World Cup matches this campaign, star center back William Saliba was sidelined for the finale with an injury.

Saliba has been dealing with a back issue for a while now, plagued with pain during Premier League and Champions League play in the spring. He has grown somewhat accustomed to the feeling.

“I’ve had some minor niggles for several months,” Saliba said before the match against Iraq. “I’ve been gritting my teeth because there was the Champions League and the Premier League. But the coaching staff are handling it very well.

“The World Cup comes round only once every four years, so you’ve got to grit your teeth. I’m not at 100%, but there are plenty of players who aren’t at 100% either. You can’t make excuses.”

Saliba intends to battle through the pain this summer en route to the trophy, but that doesn’t mean he needs the injury to worsen. His absence on Friday was likely precautionary, resulting from the fact that France had already secured advancement and will have bigger fish to fry in the match(es) to come.

Nevertheless, his presence was missed. The loss of the 25-year-old to the starting lineup was a noticeable blow to France, given the Arsenal man has quickly proven himself as the backbone of the backline and frankly one of the best center backs in the sport.

He was replaced by Crystal Palace’s Maxence Lacroix, who partnered with Dayot Upamecano in the center. Although it was Lacroix that was new to the lineup, it was Upamecano who appeared most rattled by the change.

The second-string Norwegian attack managed to generate two big opportunities in the first 14 minutes, chances Haaland likely wouldn’t have had no trouble finishing. Norway’s goal, coming just over a minute after Dembélé’s second, saw Upamecano easily juked out by Thelo Aasgaard. Shortly beforehand, Upamecano had completely mistimed a headed clearance, resulting in a shot on target.

Luckily, Mike Maignan was brilliant between the posts, coming up big when necessary with three saves, including a penalty kick in the second half.

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France’s Group Stage Review

France has had an outstanding start to the 2026 World Cup, achieving a perfect group stage finish, something Les Bleus didn’t manage in 2018 or 2022.

This time around, though, France scored a whopping 10 goals against its Group I foes, while only conceding two, a testament to the team’s strength in every area of the pitch.

Dembélé proved himself more than capable of being a key tournament contributor this summer, stealing the spotlight with his hat-trick. Meanwhile, Mbappé continued to prove himself as destined for World Cup immortality, with a brace in both of the first two group stage games as well as two assists on Friday.

Yet even with all of that star power, the one who will be the biggest difference maker is Michael Olise. The 24-year-old Bayern Munich star is France’s creative mastermind and the very heartbeat of the attack. Although he was relatively quiet on Friday and came off the pitch in the 65th minute, he still had the joint-most passes into the final third with eight total. He ended the group stage with three total assists.

If this trio of stars has the space to move and play creatively, then they will be lethal and nearly impossible to stop. The only way teams will be able to overcome this French attack is by successfully congesting the center of the pitch, like Senegal managed briefly in the opener, or by just simply parking the bus and saying a little prayer.

Even winger Désiré Doué got involved in the dying seconds of the match, scoring his first-ever World Cup goal, suggesting all of France’s most dangerous attackers will be firing on all cylinders come single-elimination next week.

The one weak spot in France’s play could wind up being its overconfidence, though. Sheer complacency after Dembélé’s second finish allowed Norway to easily break through just over 80 seconds later, leaving France stunned and confused. Is this a factor that opponents can successfully exploit? We’ll see on Tuesday.

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Published 15 hours ago | Modified 15 hours agoSOPHIA VESELY

Sophia Vesely is a writer, reporter and editor for SI FC, with an emphasis on North American coverage. Her experience comes from regional journalism as a former sports reporter for the Orlando Sentinel, Dallas Morning News and Seattle Times. Vesely graduated from Swarthmore College, where she played collegiate soccer as a wingback. She specializes in MLS, NWSL and NCAA soccer.

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