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Foxborough — Ousmane Dembele scored a hat-trick as his ruthless already-qualified France side claimed top spot in World Cup Group I with a 4-1 victory over second-string Norway on Friday.
The winger scored three times in the space of 25 minutes in the first half to send the 2018 world champions and 2022 runners-up into the knockout phase of this year’s tournament with a spring in their step.

France’s Desire Doue celebrates scoring their fourth goal against Norway.
The France players had promised to go for a win as a tribute to coach Didier Deschamps who has flown home from the United States to attend the funeral of his mother.

Les Bleus — like Norway — had made sure of a place in the Round of 32 before Friday’s clash but wanted to top the group to take advantage of a lighter travel schedule offered by the tournament’s North American criss-crossing route map.
Their task was made easier by Norway coach Stale Solbakken’s decision to rest all but one of the players who started against Senegal this week, including goal-scoring machine Erling Haaland and captain Martin Odegaard.
France went on the attack from the kickoff. Kylian Mbappe, who is likely to be challenging Haaland for the World Cup’s Golden Boot top scorer award, slammed an angled shot off the bar with barely 20 seconds on the clock.
Six minutes later Mbappe swept a glorious cross-field pass to Dembele who cut inside and then outside a defender before blasting an angled shot past goalkeeper Egil Selvik.

Mbappe fed Dembele again in the 20th minute and the Paris St-Germain forward gained a yard of space against his marker once again to score with a dipping shot.
Norway pulled a goal back almost immediately through Thelo Aasgaard before Dembele became only the third France player to score a World Cup hat-trick — after Just Fontaine and Mbappe — by curling a low shot into the bottom corner in the 32nd.
It was the second-earliest hat-trick ever scored at a World Cup, behind Erich Probst who got three goals for Austria in 1954 against Czechoslovakia after 24 minutes.
Jorgen Strand Larsen blew a chance to get Norway back into the game early in the second half when his soft penalty was saved by Mike Maignan.

Winger Oscar Bobb forced Maignan into another save as the Scandinavians exposed some vulnerability in their opponents’ back line before Desire Doue got France’s fourth with a header from a cross by substitute Bradley Barcola in the dying moments.
▶Senegal 5, Iraq 0: Substitute Pape Gueye scored a pair of sensational second-half goals from long range, and Senegal got a much-needed boost for their goal differential with a victory over 10-man Iraq in their Group I finale.
Ismaila Sarr added his third goal of the tournament, the first of four after halftime for the Lions of Teranga (1-2-0, 3 points), who sealed a third-place group finish and are vying for one of the eight third-place spots in the round of 32.

They currently hold the fifth-best record of third-place sides based on their plus-2 goal differential, but four of the squads beneath them have yet to play their final group matches.
Habib Diarra opened the scoring in the fourth minute while it was still 11 on 11, and Iliman Ndiaye wrapped it up with his own long-range effort in the 82nd minute.
Iraq (0-3-0, 0 points) were eliminated from their second World Cup and first since 1986.
They would’ve been underdogs at even strength, but the prospect of their first World Cup points grew more remote when referee Anthony Taylor dismissed defender Rebin Sulaka for denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity in the 13th minute.

Taylor initially brandished only a yellow card after Sadio Mane dribbled past Sulaka, who hauled him back with an outstretched arm. But Taylor was summoned to consult a replay monitor, and after viewing the play again, upgraded the decision.
Senegal couldn’t capitalize during a frustrating remainder of the first half, but that all changed after the interval.
Lamine Camara set up Sarr’s 56th-minute tally to begin the second-half onslaught, forcing an Iraq turnover in their own box, dribbling to the byline, then cutting a low cross back for Sarr to tap into an open goal.
Gueye entered immediately following Sarr’s contribution and soon made his own impact.

In the 59th minute, he took Sarr’s pass near the right corner of the box, dribbled to his left and then unfurled a bending, left-footed strike that curled beyond the diving Ahmed Basil on its way into the top corner.
In the 71st, he ran onto Ndiaye’s bouncing feed and struck a thunderous half-volley that barely gave Basil time to move before it bulged the back of the net.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: World Cup: France concludes group play with win over Norway
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