Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele netted a hat trick in just 32 minutes, Kylian Mbappe had two assists and France steamrolled Norway’s reserves 4-1 to sweep Group I at the World Cup on Friday in Foxborough, Mass.
Desire Doue scored during second-half stoppage time, and goalkeeper Mike Maignan stopped a penalty kick among his three saves for France (3-0-0, 9 points), who are the second team this tournament to win all three group-stage matches.
They’ll play June 30 in East Rutherford, N.J., in the round of 32 against a third-place team to be determined.
Norway (2-1-0, 6 points), who were guaranteed to advance no matter the outcome Friday, heavily rotated their starting 11. Only midfielder Fredrik Aursnes remained in the lineup alongside 10 new starters, leaving star goal-scorer Erling Haaland and others to rest and watch.
They finished second in the group and will face Ivory Coast on June 30 in Arlington, Texas.
Mbappe created a chance for himself off the opening kickoff and smashed a shot off the crossbar 20 seconds into the match.
He and Dembele made sure fans didn’t need to wait much longer for a goal. Just after six minutes had passed, Mbappe picked up a turnover at midfield and made an excellent cross to the top-right corner of the box for Dembele, who faked left, shifted right and hammered one home.
In the 20th minute, Mbappe got another pass to Dembele on the right wing despite being pulled down by Leo Ostigard. Play continued without a whistle, and Dembele moved in toward the penalty arc before unleashing a shot. His first goal came off his right foot, but he used his left for the second, again to the far post.
Norway responded by immediately going on the attack on the ensuing kickoff, resulting in Thelo Aasgaard’s low shot from the 18-yard line past Maignan.
But the Norwegians were helpless when Dembele got another ball on his left foot, as he curled yet another shot from the top-right of the box inside the far post.
Early in the second half, France’s Theo Hernandez brought down Oscar Bobb in the box and Jorgen Strand Larsen took the penalty kick. But Maignan wasn’t fooled by Strand Larsen’s hesitations and dove low to his left to bat away the attempt.
Doue made it 4-1 when Bradley Barcola lifted a cross to him in the center of the box and he headed it home.
–Field Level Media
