FOXBORO, Mass. — Nearly all the talk heading into the matchup between France and Norway at Boston Stadium centered around two megastars in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland squaring off. But with Norway opting to rest Haaland and nine other starters for the contest, all eyes turned to Mbappe. And while Mbappe flashed his elite skills, it was his teammate who ended up in the spotlight by pulling ...

France's Ousmane Dembele celebrates scoring his team's third goal with teammate Manu Kone during a World Cup Group I match against Norway on Friday, June 26, 2026, in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

FOXBORO, Mass. — Nearly all the talk heading into the matchup between France and Norway at Boston Stadium centered around two megastars in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland squaring off.

But with Norway opting to rest Haaland and nine other starters for the contest, all eyes turned to Mbappe. And while Mbappe flashed his elite skills, it was his teammate who ended up in the spotlight by pulling off an otherworldly feat.

Ousmane Dembélé stole the show with a brilliant effort as the talented striker notched a first-half hat trick to pace France to a 4-1 win over Norway on Friday afternoon. Dembélé became the first player to notch three goals in the first half — he only needed 32 minutes to do so — at the World Cup since Russia’s Oleg Salenko in 1994.

Dembélé’s goal-scoring explosion quickly propelled him into the Golden Boot race with four total tallies, tying Mbappe and Haaland while trailing Argentina’s Lionel Messi by one for the tournament lead.

France took Group I with the win and will face a third-place team from one of five groups Tuesday in the Round of 32. Meanwhile, Norway will be well-rested for its first knockout game on Tuesday as well, but the opponent will be much stiffer as it takes on Ivory Coast.

Dembélé reminded everyone he’s the most recent Ballon d’Or winner when he got his scoring spree started in the seventh minute with Mbappe making a long-range diagonal pass to Dembélé on the right wing. Dembélé dribbled into the box where he cut left, before switching back to his right and drilled his shot into the far post for a 1-0 advantage.

Mbappe, who rung the crossbar with a shot 20 seconds into the game, picked up his second assist when he set up Dembélé in the 20th minute. Mbappe, who was being dragged down, got the ball to Dembélé again on the right wing and this time Dembélé cut inward and delivered a sensational strike with his left foot from outside the box that beat the outstretched dive of Norway keeper Egil Selvik.

Dembélé’s third goal was similar to his second as he got to his left foot inside the box with Norway defenders in front of him and tucked his shot into the far corner for a 3-1 lead in the 32nd minute. Dembélé ran off in celebration to revel in his accomplishment and as he did so, he counted his number of goals in the game on his fingers.

There was a chance for Dembélé, who was subbed out in the 64th minute, to add to his total in the 43rd minute when he had the ball and space inside the box, but he elected to pass up his bid, which resulted in a groan from the France supporters as Norway thwarted the opportunity.

Désiré Doué capped the scoring for France in the fourth minute of stoppage time in the second half when he headed in a pass from Bradley Barcola.

Despite playing with primarily all backups, Norway put forth a valiant effort as Thelo Aasgaard scored quickly off the restart following Dembélé’s second tally.

The Norwegians almost pulled within a goal in the 48th minute when Oscar Bobb drew a foul on France defender Theo Hernandez in the box. But French keeper Mike Maignan guessed the right way on Jorgen Strand Larsen’s ensuing penalty kick, diving to his left to stop the shot.

Maignan made one more impressive save in the 72nd minute when he got his glove on Bobb’s low shot to keep the good times rolling for France.