Dembélé scores three goals in 32 minutes and sinks Norway at the World Cup
Boston, June 26. Ousmane Dembélé gave Norway no time to breathe. In less than half an hour, France’s number 10 found the net three times and led Les Bleus to yet another crushing win: 4-1. It is the second-fastest hat-trick in the entire history of the World Cup – and probably the most beautiful of this edition.
A hat-trick for the history books
Born in Vernon, a town of around 24,000 inhabitants in rural Normandy, Dembélé is piling up records at this 2026 World Cup held in North America. The 2025 Ballon d’Or winner and Paris Saint-Germain forward became only the third Frenchman to score three goals in a World Cup knockout-stage match – alongside Just Fontaine, the legendary top scorer of 1958, and Kylian Mbappé.
The tempo of his display impressed even those already used to the player’s level. Three goals in 32 minutes is the kind of number that rewrites statistics. Norway simply found no answer.
Attacking trio dominates the tournament
Dembélé’s performance is not an isolated case. Together with Real Madrid’s Mbappé and Bayern Munich’s Michael Olise, France’s attacking trio has racked up 14 direct contributions – goals and assists – in just three matches. Mbappé, who celebrated his 100th cap with a brace against Iraq, has four goals. Dembélé, another four. Olise dishes out decisive plays with the ease of someone who arrived at the tournament in peak form.
No other national team has a trio with this kind of attacking output at this World Cup.
France ends the group stage without a stumble
The three wins in Group I – against Senegal (3-1), Iraq (3-0) and Norway (4-1) – gave France nine points and top spot with 10 goals scored and only two conceded. It is the first time since 1998 that the team has finished a group stage with a perfect campaign.
Head coach Didier Deschamps, absent for personal reasons, missed the match. But his assistant Guy Stéphan steered the side with authority. From a distance, Deschamps sees his record of 17 World Cup wins cement itself as an all-time best.
The next challenge is Sweden, on June 30 at MetLife Stadium in New York. The Swedes are building one of the most organised defences of the tournament. But with Dembélé in this kind of form, betting against France looks like an unnecessary risk.
