Dembélé, France Hat Trick Haaland-less Norway in Win.

It was perhaps not the most thrilling matchup it once was on paper prior to kickoff. However, it still produced fireworks for one side. Norway and France met in Boston Stadium to determine the winner of their group and who is in second place. Both teams will play in the knockout round.

Norway elected to sit Erling Haaland and made 10 lineup changes for this match. Norway clearly did not want the significant consequences of what would happen if their star players get hurt during this match.

 France allowed Kylian Mbappé to play. It was a 50/50 crowd of French and Norwegian fans. France took advantage of the Haaland absence as Ousmane Dembélé would score in the 7th minute to make it 1-0. Dembélé would score again for France in the 20th minute to make it 2-0. However, France would get overconfident as on the next play France got sloppy. Norway would score in the 21st minute thanks to Thelo Aasgaard to make it 2-1 France over Norway. Dembélé would complete the hat trick in the 32nd minute for France to make 3-1. This all occurred in the first half.

Second half had Norway and France play conservatively. Both teams did not want to do risky plays due to both of them being in the knockout round. Also, too many yellow cards would lead to a suspension for the next match.  Désiré Doué would seal the deal for France in the 90+4 minute with a header to make it 4-1 over Norway.  France would go on to win the match 4-1 over Norway. France gets first place in the group and Norway would get second.

Duke’s Moment of the Match

Dembélé’s hat trick helped lead France into first place of the group, having the 2nd earliest hat trick in World Cup history and a matchup with Sweden.