France advances to World Cup knockout stage with 4-1 win over Norway

France secured a spot in the knockout stage of the World Cup by defeating Norway 4-1 in the final match of Group ‘I’, maintaining a perfect winning record to top the group.

In the match, Ousmane Dembele achieved a hat-trick in the first half, and France added another goal in the final moments of the second half. In another group match, Senegal defeated Iraq 5-0, keeping their hopes alive to advance as one of the best third-placed teams.

Against Norway, France’s star striker Ousmane Dembele completed his hat-trick within 32 minutes, helping France take a 3-1 lead by halftime. Norway’s Thilo Asgard scored one goal in return. In the final moments of the match, France’s Desire Doue scored the fourth goal.

Norway, on the other hand, made 10 changes to their lineup against France, including Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard.

From the start, France displayed excellent form and maintained dominance. Dembele’s hat-trick was the third of the ongoing World Cup, following those by Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Canada’s Jonathan David.

For Dembele, this was his first hat-trick in a major international tournament. He is currently in incredible form, with his long and excellent strikes leaving Norway’s defense and goalkeeper with no chance.

By completing his hat-trick in the 32nd minute, Dembele became the second-fastest player in World Cup history to achieve this feat. The record for the fastest hat-trick was set by Erich Probst in 1954, who scored in the 24th minute for Austria against Czechoslovakia.

With this hat-trick, Dembele positioned himself as a contender for the tournament’s top scorer, having scored a total of four goals. He joins Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, and Vinicius Junior on the list of players with four goals. Lionel Messi currently leads the tournament with five goals. In today’s match, Mbappe did not score.

Group ‘I’ standings after the matches