Dembélé hat trick vs. Norway confirms France are a World Cup favorite - ESPN

BOSTON — Ousmane Dembélé scored a first-half hat trick as France hammered home their status as World Cup favorites with a 4-1 Group I win against a Norway side that rested star striker Erling Haaland in Boston.

Dembele's 32-minute hat trick, followed by Désiré Doué's headed goal in second-half stoppage time, secured an emphatic win for Les Bleus to confirm qualification for the round of 32 as group winners.

With Norway coach Stale Solbakken making ten changes to his starting lineup, including Manchester City forward Haaland, France dominated against the half-strength Norwegians. And although Thelo Aasgaard gave Norway brief hope when he made it 2-1 seconds after Dembélé's second goal, France coasted to the win and even saw goalkeeper Mike Maignan save a Jørgen Strand Larsen penalty.

France now face a third-place qualifier in New Jersey next Tuesday while Norway travel to Dallas to take on Ivory Coast on the same day.

The buildup to this game was all about the heavyweight clash between Kylian Mbappé and Haaland, but Ousmane Dembélé reminded the world that he was the only Ballon d'Or winner on the pitch in Boston, and he did it in emphatic style with a hat trick.

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But it wasn't just any old hat trick. Dembélé's three-goal salvo, scored in the space of 32 first-half minutes, was the second quickest in World Cup history after the 24 minute hat trick scored by Austria's Erich Probst against Czechoslovakia in 1954. Had he scored another, he would have become the first player to score four or more goals in a World Cup game since Russia's Oleg Salenko hit five against Cameroon in 1994.

But the milestones