France did not need Kylian Mbappé to win on Friday. It needed Ousmane Dembélé.
According to CBS Sports, the French forward scored three goals in the first 32 minutes as France routed Norway 4-1 in their final Group I match at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The result pushed France to nine points and 10 goals in three group-stage games, positioning them for one of the best bracket spots heading into the knockout round.
The game started with a flash of Mbappé, who sent a shot across the crossbar just 21 seconds in, drawing a reaction from the 64,000-plus in attendance. After that near-miss, however, Mbappé moved into a supporting role. Dembélé took over. He scored in the seventh minute, the 20th minute, and the 32nd minute. Mbappé assisted on the first two.
The hat trick was the fastest in a World Cup game in 72 years. The only quicker one in tournament history came in 1954, when Austrian forward Erich Probst scored three times in the first 24 minutes against Czechoslovakia. It was also the World Cup's first hat trick in an opening half since the USSR's Oleg Salenko scored five against Cameroon at Stanford Stadium in 1994.
Dembélé joined Mbappé and Just Fontaine as the only Frenchmen to score three goals in a single World Cup match. The 2025 Ballon d'Or winner might have added a fourth, but he was substituted out in the 65th minute.
Norway entered the match having already qualified for the knockout round, and they were not at full strength. With both teams already through, the competitive pressure was low. France spent much of the second half managing the clock, but they still found a moment of quality late. In the final minute, Paris Saint-Germain teammates combined when Bradley Barcola fed a pass to Désiré Doué, who headed in the fourth goal.
Mbappé, despite taking on a quieter role, still added to his own statistical record. The 27-year-old has now scored or assisted on 20 World Cup goals, putting him alongside Lionel Messi and Miroslav Klose as the only players in history to reach that mark.
France will likely face Sweden in the round of 32 in New Jersey on Tuesday. Norway is set to play Ivory Coast in Dallas after finishing the group stage at 2-0-1 with a plus-one goal differential.
