France secured a 4-1 victory over Norway in the final Group I match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup on June 26 at Boston Stadium near Boston, with Ousmane Dembele scoring a first-half hat-trick between the 25th and 32nd minutes [1, 2, 3]. Dembele's three goals marked only the fourth World Cup hat-trick by a French player, joining Just Fontaine and Kylian Mbappe [4, 5, 6]. Dembele had not scored in his previous 11 World Cup matches but broke his drought in France's prior Group I match against Iraq [4, 5, 6].
Norway rested 10 of their 11 first-choice starters, including top scorer Erling Haaland, who was on the bench for the match [1, 4, 2, 3]. Norway's Thelo Aasgaard scored a consolation goal shortly after Dembele's second, briefly halting the French momentum [1, 2, 3].
Kylian Mbappe did not score but assisted Dembele's first goal and hit the crossbar early in this match [1, 2, 3]. France added a fourth goal in stoppage time when Desire Doue headed the ball into the net [1, 2, 3]. Approximately 64,000 fans attended the game [4].
France finished top of Group I with three wins from three matches and advanced to the Round of 32, likely to face Sweden next [1, 2, 5, 6, 3]. Norway finished second and will face Ivory Coast in the Round of 32 on June 30 in Dallas [1, 2, 3].
Before this match, Mbappe and Haaland each had scored four goals in the tournament, trailing Lionel Messi, who led with five [7, 8]. Haaland was playing in his first World Cup and was rested against France [7, 1, 4, 2, 8, 3].
Dembele said, "This is an important moment for me. But I preferred how I played against Senegal or against Iraq. I think I was much more influential in those games, so I think we need to stay fully concentrated because we have important things ahead of us" [5].
Norway will meet Ivory Coast in the Round of 32 match on June 30 in Dallas, with France set to face Sweden in the other Round of 32 fixture.
