Boston, June 27 (IANS) France forward Ousmane Dembele scored a first-half hat-trick as Les Bleus beat Norway 4-1 to win Group I at Boston Stadium on Friday, while Norway rested star Erling Haaland on the bench.

Both teams had already clinched places in the round of 32 before the group finale: France would top the group with a win or a draw, while Norway needed victory to finish first.

The first half was played at a high tempo as Kylian Mbappe tested Norway’s defense in the first minute, racing down the right and firing a shot that rattled the underside of the crossbar, reported Xinhua.

In the seventh minute, Dembele opened the scoring with a powerful strike into the top right corner after Mbappe’s cross.

Jorgen Strand Larsen had an opportunity to level in the 14th minute, but his shot went too high.

France extended the lead to 2-0 in the 20th minute when Dembele received from Mbappe, cut inside from the right and produced a perfect finish, shortly after Mbappe had a shot saved by the goalkeeper.

Norway pulled one back through winger Thelo Aasgaard a minute later with a fine low strike from outside the area.

But France seemed unstoppable as Dembele completed a hat-trick in the 32nd minute with another precise finish into the far post.

Dembele’s treble is the sixth first-half hat-trick in World Cup history and the first since Oleg Salenko’s for Russia against Cameroon in 1994. It’s also the third hat-trick scored at the current tournament after Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Canada’s Jonathan David.

Norway missed a chance to narrow the gap in the 50th minute when France goalkeeper Mike Maignan dived low to his left to save Strand Larsen’s penalty.

In the 56th minute, Norway goalkeeper Egil Selvik received treatment after hurting himself diving to stop a thunderous Mbappe shot that flashed just inches past the post.

In stoppage time Desire Doue headed in Bradley Barcola’s cross to seal the win for France.

Norway finished second in the group as Haaland remains level with Mbappe on four goals, one behind Messi in the Golden Boot race.

–IANS

hs/