Dembélé hat-trick in 32 minutes powers France past Norway; Mbappé-Haaland duel fails to materialize

France secured top spot in World Cup Group I with a convincing 4-1 victory over Norway on Tuesday, completing the group stage with three wins from three matches.

Norway's coach surprisingly left star striker Erling Haaland and captain Martin Ødegaard on the bench, while France opted to rest defender William Saliba.

The match started with a lightning French attack. In the 7th minute, Kylian Mbappé set up Ousmane Dembélé, who fired home a beautiful strike to make it 1-0. Dembélé doubled the lead in the 20th minute with another clinical finish.

Norway responded quickly through Tello Ødegård, who pulled one back in the 21st minute (1-2). Ødegård became the first Rangers player to score in a World Cup since 1998, when Brian Laudrup found the net for Denmark.

France restored their two-goal cushion before halftime when Dembélé completed his hat-trick in the 32nd minute. It was the second fastest World Cup hat-trick in history, behind only Erich Probst of Austria, who scored three in 24 minutes against Czechoslovakia in 1954. Dembélé is the fourth French player to score a World Cup hat-trick, after Just Fontaine, Kylian Mbappé, and himself.

In the second half, Norway had a chance to get back into the game when Theo Hernández fouled Oscar Bobb in the box in the 48th minute. However, Jørgen Strand Larsen saw his penalty saved by Mike Maignan, who became the first French goalkeeper to save a World Cup penalty since 1986.

France sealed the win in stoppage time when Désiré Doué headed home from Bradley Barcola's cross, making it 4-1.

France finished the group stage with nine points and will likely face Sweden in the knockout stage, while Norway will take on Ivory Coast.