France defeated Norway 4-1. (Photo- GETTY)
Ousmane Dembele, FIFA World Cup 2026: France’s star forward Ousmane Dembele has registered his name in the pages of history in the FIFA World Cup 2026. In its last match of Group-I, France defeated Norway 4-1. The real hero of this match played at Gillette Stadium was the current Ballon d’Or winner Dembele, who created a stir by scoring three magical goals in just 32 minutes in the first half of the match. This match was supposed to be Kylian Mbappe vs Erling Haaland, but after Haaland was rested on the bench, Dembele stole the show.
Great record of hat-trick in the first half after 32 years
Ousmane Dembele has become one of the few players in the world to complete a hat-trick within the first half in World Cup history. This feat was seen only for the sixth time in World Cup history. At the same time, he is the first player after 1994 to achieve this feat on the biggest stage of football. Before him, Oleg Salenko of Russia had scored three goals in the first half against Cameroon in the 1994 World Cup.
Along with this, completing the hat-trick in just 32 minutes from the start of the match is the second fastest hat-trick in World Cup history. On top in this matter is Austria’s Erich Probst, who scored a hat-trick in the first 24 minutes against Czechoslovakia in 1954. Apart from this, Dembele has now become only the third French player in history to score a hat-trick in the World Cup after Just Fontaine (twice in 1958) and Kylian Mbappe (2022).
France finished on top of the group
With this victory, the French team remained on top in Group-I with 9 points after winning all its three matches. At the same time, despite the defeat, the Norwegian team reached the Round of 32 (knockout) by finishing second with 6 points. At the same time, this fierce form of Dembele has increased the concern of the opposing teams, because now before the knockout round, the opposition defenders will not only be able to make a strategy to stop Mbappé, but they will also face a big challenge like Dembele.
