Norway without Haaland and Odegaard
Both teams had already secured their place in the knockout stage, leaving only top spot in Group I at stake. Norway coach Stale Solbakken made ten changes to his starting lineup, leaving Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard on the bench. Just 22 seconds in, Kylian Mbappe rattled the crossbar, an early warning sign for Norway''s backup defense.
Dembele runs riot in the first half
In the 7th minute, Mbappe found Ousmane Dembele, who cut in from the right and curled a left-footed finish into the far corner to open the scoring. Thirteen minutes later, the Paris Saint-Germain forward repeated the trick, finding the same corner from distance. Norway responded almost immediately — just 79 seconds later, Thelo Aasgaard pulled one back from range to make it 2-1. Dembele wasn''t finished, though, completing his hat-trick in the 32nd minute with a near-carbon copy of his second goal. It was the second-fastest hat-trick in World Cup history, behind only Austria''s Erich Probst in 1954.
France seal it in style
Norway had a chance to close the gap when Theo Hernandez fouled Oscar Bobb in the box, but Jorgen Strand Larsen''s resulting penalty was saved by Mike Maignan. France added the gloss in first-half stoppage time as Desire Doue headed home a Bradley Barcola cross to make it 4-1. The win gave France a perfect three wins from three at a World Cup for the first time since 1998, and as Group I winners they''ll face one of the best third-placed teams in New Jersey in the round of 32. Norway, despite the loss, progress in second place and will face Ivory Coast in Dallas.