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Ousmane Dembélé did his part in the first half as France looked to clinch first place in Group I at the World Cup.
Facing Norway’s B team and needing a win or a draw to clinch the group, Dembélé dominated the Norwegian team with a three-goal half, notching a hat trick in the game’s first 32 minutes.

Though Norway opted to rest its starters — including star Erling Haaland — with a spot in the knockout round clinched, Dembélé playing in the game may have significantly altered the race for the tournament’s top individual accolade.
With his three goals on Friday, Dembélé now has four in the World Cup so far. That puts him in a tie for second behind Lionel Messi (five goals), along with Brazil’s Vinícius Júnior, Haaland and his France teammate Kylian Mbappé in the Golden Boot standings. In the event of a tie in the number of total goals, assist totals will be used to determine the winner.
Dembélé will have to stay hot to remain in contention in a competitive Golden Boot battle, but after scoring just one goal in France’s first two games, he is now very much in the race.

Dembélé is now in a four-way tie for second behind the all-time World Cup goals leader in Messi, who has scored five times so far in this year’s tournament. Here are the full standings.
1st: Lionel Messi (5 goals)
T2nd: Vinícius Júnior, Ousmane Dembélé (4 goals, 1 assist)
T4: Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappé (4 goals)
6: Deniz Undav (3 goals, 2 assists)
7: Johan Manzambi (3 goals, 1 assist)
T8: Jonathan David, Ismael Saibari, Matheus Cunha, Brian Brobbey (3 goals)
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Dembélé 2026 World Cup goals: First-half hat-trick alters Golden Boot outlook
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