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06/26/26 04:17:00
Printable Page
06/26 16:14 CDT France forward Ousmane Dembl scores a first-half World Cup
hat trick in 4-1 win over Norway
France forward Ousmane Dembl scores a first-half World Cup hat trick in 4-1
win over Norway
By KYLE HIGHTOWER
AP Sports Writer
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) --- France forward Ousmane Dembl scored a first-half
hat trick, including one off a feed from Kylian Mbapp, to help his team beat
Norway 4-1 at the World Cup on Friday.
Dembl's goals came in the seventh, 20th and 32nd minutes. It was the first
first-half hat trick at the World Cup since Russia forward Oleg Salenko scored
three of his five goals in the opening 45 minutes against Cameroon at the 1994
World Cup in the United States.
Dsir Dou scored France's final goal in second-half injury time.
Dembl, who won Ballon d'Or as Europe's top player in 2025 and has now scored
four goals at this year's World Cup, left the game in the 65th minute. He was
replaced by Bradley Barcola.
Thelo Aasgaard got Norway on the scoreboard after Dembl's second goal,
finding the back of the net only 14 seconds after the restart. But Dembl
added his third goal less than nine minutes later to push the lead back to two.
Dembl increased his international goal total to eight while Mbappe now has 16
goals and four assists in 17 World Cup matches. He scored two goals in each of
France's wins over Senegal and Iraq.
Erling Haaland was among 10 regular starters absent from Norway's starting
lineup, presumably to rest. The wholesale changes included Egil Selvik starting
in goal in place of Orjan Nyland.
France, which won the World Cup in 2018 and lost in the final four years ago,
had already secured its place in the knockout round before Friday's match.
Norway was also assured of a spot in the round of 32 and ended up in second
place in the group.
The fastest World Cup hat trick took only 7 minutes, 42 seconds. Hungary
striker Laszlo Kiss, who had come on as a substitute, managed that feat late in
the match against El Salvador at the 1982 World Cup in Spain.
The quickest World Cup hat trick from the start of the match occurred at the
1954 tournament in Switzerland when Austria striker Erich Probst scored his
three goals in the opening 24 minutes against Czechoslovakia.
Mbapp nearly got France on the scoreboard only 21 seconds into the game. He
sprinted up the right side and sent a hard shot that hit the crossbar beyond
the outstretched arm of Selvik.
Dembl was operating in space for his first goal when he took took a pass from
Mbapp and blasted a right-footed shot across Selvik.
On the Paris Saint-Germain player's second goal, Dembl found space between
three defenders at the top of the box and fired in a left-footer beyond
Selvik's diving save attempt.
Norway had a chance to close the gap back to one goal in the 49th when France
defender Theo Hernandez was whistled for tripping Oscar Bobb in the box. But
Jorgen Strand Larsen's penalty shot toward the right corner was batted away by
France goalkeeper Mike Maignan.
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See more of AP's World Cup coverage here
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