Senegal produced one of the most dominant performances of the FIFA World Cup group stage as they demolished Iraq 5-0, while France sealed top spot in Group I with a 4-1 victory over Norway inspired by Ousmane Dembélé’s historic first-half hat-trick.
At Boston Stadium, France delivered another statement performance to finish the group phase with a perfect record, but the night belonged to Dembélé, who etched his name into World Cup history.
The French forward struck in the 7th, 20th and 32nd minutes to complete a remarkable hat-trick inside 25 minutes and become the first player since 1994 to score a first-half World Cup hat-trick. The only previous occurrence came when Oleg Salenko achieved the feat for Russia against Cameroon.
France had shown attacking intent from the opening seconds, with Kylian Mbappe hitting the crossbar inside the first minute before Dembélé took control.
Norway, who made 10 changes despite already securing qualification, briefly responded through Thelo Aasgaard in the 21st minute after the midfielder fired in from distance. However, Dembélé restored France’s dominance moments later to complete his treble.
The Norwegians missed an opportunity to reduce the deficit after the break when Jorgen Strand Larsen failed to convert from the penalty spot following Theo Hernandez’s challenge on Oscar Bobb, with goalkeeper Mike Maignan making the save.
Desire Doué added gloss to the scoreline in stoppage time as France wrapped up a commanding 4-1 victory and confirmed themselves as Group I winners.
Elsewhere, Senegal produced a ruthless display to overwhelm Iraq 5-0 in a match heavily influenced by a red card shown to Iraqi defender Ali Jasim Sliraw.
Habib Diarra gave Senegal an early breakthrough in the fourth minute before the game turned decisively in the second half.
Ismaila Sarr doubled the lead in the 56th minute, and Iraq’s hopes collapsed shortly after when Sliraw was sent off, reducing his side to 10 men.
Senegal took full advantage of the numerical superiority as Pape Gueye struck twice in quick succession in the 59th and 71st minutes to put the result beyond doubt.
Iliman Ndiaye completed the rout with an 82nd-minute goal as Senegal finished in emphatic fashion.
While France advanced as Group I winners, Senegal’s commanding victory provided one of the standout performances of the day, with Iraq left to reflect on how the sending-off changed the course of the contest.