FIFA World Cup 2026: France's Dembele still prefers first two WC outings despite hat-trick against Norway

Massachusetts [US]: France superstar and 2025 Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembele still prefers his previous outings against Senegal and Iraq in the FIFA World Cup, despite scoring a monumental hat-trick in his side's final group stage match against Norway on Friday.

Paris Saint-Germain star scripted history as he became the first player to net a first-half hat trick at the FIFA World Cup since Oleg Salenko in 1994. Dembele's hat-trick just 32 minutes into this game is the second earliest a player has scored a FIFA World Cup hat-trick in a match, behind Erich Probst in 1954 for Austria against Czechoslovakia (24 minutes), as per OptaJoe.

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Following his side's win, Dembele told M6 outlet as quoted by Goal. com, that while the performance remains "unique and important moment" for him, he still has other preferences over his hat-trick.

"I am happy, it is a unique and important moment for me. My performance was good, but I preferred my match against Senegal or against Iraq - I think I was much more influential. We have to stay focused; important things are on the horizon," he said.

Further adding on the win against Norway, he said, "It was an important match to finish top of the group. We want to win every game, and we are going to stay focused because what lies ahead is going to be even more difficult. There are quality players on the pitch, and even on the bench. And with communication, it makes things easier. We understand each other better, so that is good; we need to keep it up."

Dembele played well in tandem with skipper Kylian Mbappe in the opening clash against Senegal, which ended in a 3-1 win. In the 3-0 win over Iraq which followed after, Dembele found the net in the 66th minute.

Dembele is also just the third French player to score a FIFA World Cup hat-trick, joining Just Fontaine and Kylian Mbappe.

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Dembele's hat-trick goal was the first of the 182 scored at this FIFA World Cup to feature every one of his team's 11 players involved in the build-up, as per OptaJoe.

France leads the fixture against Norway 3-1 in the first half. Dembele opened the scoring with a superb finish in the seventh minute before doubling France's advantage with a stunning left-footed strike from outside the box in the 20th. Norway responded immediately through Thelo Aasgaard just a minute later, but Ballon d'Or winner Dembele completed his hat-trick in the 32nd minute with a powerful finish to restore France's two-goal cushion.

Fans were denied the much-anticipated showdown between star forwards Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland, with Norway manager Stale Solbakken opting to rest 10 regular starters, including Haaland and captain Martin Odegaard.