Ousmane Dembele struck a hat-trick as France sealed first place in World Cup Group I with a commanding 4-1 victory over a heavily rotated Norway side, maintaining their perfect tournament record ahead of the knockout stage.
The winger scored three times in the space of 25 minutes in the first half to send the 2018 world champions and 2022 runners-up into the knockout phase of this year’s tournament with a spring in their step.
The France players had promised to go for a win as a tribute to coach Didier Deschamps who has flown home from the United States to attend the funeral of his mother.
Les Bleus - like Norway - had made sure of a place in the Round of 32 before Friday's clash but wanted to top the group to take advantage of a lighter travel schedule offered by the tournament’s North American criss-crossing route map.
Their task was made easier by Norway coach Stale Solbakken’s decision to rest all but one of the players who started against Senegal earlier this week, including goal-scoring machine Erling Haaland and captain Martin Odegaard.
