France closed out a perfect group stage with a 4–1 victory over Norway on Friday, powered by a sensational hat-trick from Ousmane Dembélé.The match was billed to be a thrilling clash, but Les Bleus became the overwhelming favorites after Norway manager Ståle Solbakken decided to heavily rotate his squad, keeping many of his best players on the bench, including Erling Haaland and Martin Ødegaard.The door was open for Didier Deschamps’s ferocious forwards to take advantage of such a makeshift backline—and they did just that. Kylian Mbappé set up two goals for Dembélé within the first 20 minutes, and the Paris Saint-Germain superstar bagged his third of the afternoon just 12 minutes later. Thelo Aasgaard got on the scoresheet for Norway in the meantime, but there was no comeback to be had for the Vikings. Instead, it was Désiré Doué who scored the only goal of the second half to emphatically close out France’s victory that clinched first place of Group I.Compete against the world. | SPORTS ILLUSTRATEDThe One Thing We Can’t Ignore Ousmane Dembélé is now firmly in the Golden Boot race. | Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside/Getty ImagesMbappé has rightfully stolen the headlines for France so far at the 2026 World Cup, so much so that Dembélé, the reigning Ballon d’Or winner, became a bit of an afterthought. While Mbappé climbed the Golden Boot standings alongside the the likes of Lionel Messi, Haaland and Vinicius Junior, Dembélé had just one goal to his name after Les Bleus’ first two matches. It was somewhat of a trend for Dembélé on the international stage. For all his prowess at PSG, the forward came into Friday’s clash with just eight goals in 61 caps for his country. When the final whistle sounded at Foxborough Stadium, he had added three more to his tally. It took only 32 minutes for Dembélé to complete a hat-trick, and he did so in style. The 29-year-old smashed home his first goal with his right foot, rifled his second with a left-footed strike from distance and then toyed with Norway’s defense before sending a third past goalkeeper Egil Selvik. Dembélé became only the third French player in history to score a hat-trick at the World Cup, joining Just Fontaine and Mbappé in the record books. He also became the first player in 32 years to score a first-half hat-trick at the tournament.As if the 2018 World Cup winner wasn’t already frightening enough, it now has Dembélé off and firing heading into the knockout stage. What team is going to be able to stop Deschamps’s lethal attack? France Player Ratings vs. Norway (4-2-3-1)Kylian Mbappé (left) and Ousmane Dembélé carried France to victory. | Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated*Ratings Provided by FotMob*GK: Mike Maignan—7.8: Came up with a huge penalty save to keep France’s two-goal cushion. Stood tall against a Norway onslaught in the second half. RB: Jules Koundé—7.6: Not exactly a ringing endorsement of his performance that Norway’s best chances all developed down his flank. Lost the battle against Andreas Schjelderup.CB: Dayot Upamecano—7.5: Embarrassingly shook off by Aasgaard, who found the back of the net while the Frenchman stood and watched. Made up for his blunder with several key interventions just a few yards out from his own goal.CB: Maxence Lacroix—6.5: Nervy on the ball, so much so that he passed it to Aasgaard on the brink of halftime. Did not impress in his first appearance of the tournament. LB: Theo Hernández—6.7: Made some jarring mistakes, and that was before he took down Oscar Bobb inside the 18-yard box to gift Norway a penalty. Did little to silence his critics.CM: Aurélien Tchouaméni—8.8: Enjoyed pushing forward, especially in the first half. Showed off his passing range and vision with his delightful assist on Dembélé’s third. Tackled with precision, as always.CM: Manu Koné—7.2: Will be kicking himself for not scoring when he was through on goal just before halftime. Looked comfortable and composed alongside Tchouaméni, but rather unremarkable.RW: Ousmane Dembélé—9.6: Reminded everyone why he is the reigning Ballon d’Or winner. Bagged a hat-trick in 32 minutes to firmly join the Golden Boot race, showing his class with both feet. AM: Michael Olise—6.8: A quiet outing by his lofty standards. Shined in transition and linked up well with Mbappé and Dembélé for little reward before he was pulled just past the hour-mark. LW: Désiré Doué—8.5: Won the ball back that kickstarted the action for France’s second. Appeared almost desperate to get involved in the final third, and finally headed home his first goal of the tournament in stoppage time. ST: Kylian Mbappé—8.7: Adopted the role of playmaker this time around. Set up both of Dembélé’s goals, the second while he was being pulled to the ground. Denied by the woodwork in the early stages.SUB: Rayan Cherki (65’ for Olise)—6.3: Showed off his passing range, but lacked his patented flair. SUB: Bradley Barcola (65’ for Dembélé)—7.5: Delivered the pinpoint cross to set up Doué’s goal in stoppage time. SUB: Ibrahima Konaté (76’ for Upamecano)—6.5: Helped France see out the game without conceding in the final stages. SUB: Jean-Philippe Mateta (86’ for Mbappé)—N/ASUB: Malo Gusto (86’ for Koundé)—N/ASubs not used: Brice Samba (GK), Robin Risser (GK), Lucas Digne, Lucas Hernández, William Saliba, N’Golo Kanté, Warren Zaïre-Emery, Maghnes Akliouche, Marcus Thuram.What the Ratings Tell UsDésiré Doué finally got his World Cup goal on Friday. | Charly TriballeauAU/AFP/Getty ImagesThe pressure was mounting on Désiré Doué. The 21-year-old struggled to have an impact in his first two group stage appearances, and Bradley Barcola was waiting in the wings. Just when it looked like Doué’s starting position might be in jeopardy, he finally scored his first World Cup goal to breathe a sigh of relief. Maxence Lacroix made his World Cup debut to fill in for the injured William Saliba and looked shaky under pressure, needing Dayot Upamecano and Mike Maignan to come to his rescue. France will be crossing its fingers Saliba is ready for the knockout stage, or else Lacroix will have to improve his form—and fast.Kylian Mbappé might be kicking himself he didn’t get on the scoresheet, but he was ever the facilitator in Boston. The Frenchman was unselfish when he had the ball and showed off his chemistry with Dembélé that could carry France to World Cup glory. The Numbers That Explain France’s Smooth VictoryNorway likely would have taken holding France to just a 1.31 xG before the match, not knowing its opponents would have outperformed that by three goals. The quality in France’s attack is simply too good at finding the back of the net out of seemingly nothing. Les Bleus ended the match with 18 shots, a number that could have been much higher considering they took their foot off the gas in the second half. Norway actually created more big chances (four) than France (three), yet could not take advantage. The story likely would have been different if Haaland was on the pitch. StatisticNorwayFrancePosession43%57%xG1.691.31Total Shots1018Shots on Target49Big Chances 43Pass Accuracy82%86%Fouls911Corners45READ THE LATEST WORLD CUP NEWS, ANALYSIS AND INSIGHT FROM SI FCAdd us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow