Ousmane Dembele scores hat-trick in World Cup history in 4-1 win over Norway

Dembele scored his three goals across 26 minutes.

France’s Ousmane Dembele scored one of the earliest hat-tricks in World Cup history as the Ballon d’Or winner starred in France’s 4-1 win over a second-string Norway, while Erling Haaland watched on from the bench.

Dembele scored his three goals across 26 minutes, as his first came just minutes into the game with a slick right-footed shot.

Less than 14 minutes later, he scored his second goal. Then in the 32nd minute, he completed his hat trick with a third goal.

Erich Probst is the only player who has scored a hat trick faster than Dembele, and that record was set 72 years ago for Austria. Probst scored all three of his goals in 24 minutes during a match against Czechoslovakia.

France went into halftime leading 3-1 because of a goal from Norway’s Thelo Aasgaard, but Les Bleus added another goal in stoppage time from Désiré Doué to secure a 4-1 win.

Dembélé, who is the current Ballon d’Or winner for best men’s player, is now close behind Lionel Messi and is tied with his France teammate Kylian Mbappé in the race for the 2026 Golden Boot.

Messi, who is expected to play his third match of the tournament on Saturday night, has scored five goals in four games. Dembele, Mbappe, Brazil’s Vinicius Júnior, and Norway’s Erling Haaland are all tied in second place with four goals each.

Haaland did not start for Norway on Friday because the team made 10 changes to its lineup. Although Norway and France were playing for first place in Group I, both teams had already qualified for the knockout stage as the top two in the group. Norway’s position means they would face Ivory Coast if they finish second, while the group winner will play a third-place team in the Round of 32.