France's Maxence Lacroix: 'We had a clear objective, and we did it'

Rounding out Group I action, France dominated Norway inside Boston Stadium, winning 4-1 to claim top of the group with three wins from three.

Without head coach Didier Deschamps on the sidelines due to the passing of his mother, Paris Saint-Germain forward Ousmane Dembélé stole the show with a first-half hat-trick before his teammate for club and country, Desiré Doué, added his first World Cup goal in second-half stoppage time.

Norway fielded a heavily-rotated lineup with 10 changes from the side that defeated Senegal in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Monday. Talisman Erling Haaland, chief creator in midfield Martin Odegaard, and every other key player besides Benfica midfielder Fredrik Aursnes was on the bench to start against France. France looked the far better side from the opening kickoff and looks like the nation to beat at this summer's tournament.

Ousmane Dembélé hat trick powers France past rotated Norway

France rolled to a 4-1 win in Boston and emerged as winners of Group I as Ousmane Dembélé took over and as Norway rested many of its regular starters.

New York Soccer JournalMatthew Mangam

France, for their part, made a few changes to the side that comfortably dispatched Iraq 3-0 in Philadelphia on Monday, most notably replacing the injured William Saliba with Crystal Palace defender Maxence Lacroix, who made his first start for Les Bleus after only making his national team debut back in March.

When speaking to the media postgame, Lacroix pointed out that he "wasn't surprised" by the heavily rotated Norwegian side, and that he was prepared to play anyone that Norway threw at him. "We had a clear objective, and it was to finish first in this group, and we did it," Lacroix said.

A 2026 UEFA Europa Conference League champion, Lacroix completed 93% of his passes, along with making nine defensive contributions, stifling the Norway forwards alongside Bayern Munich defender Dayot Upamecano.

When asked how the squad was able to prepare for this match without the leadership of Deschamps, Lacroix continued, "It's always hard. [...] But he was in our hearts throughout the game. We really took this game personally. We wanted him to be proud where he is in France and for him to come back to us with another win."

The story of the night was former Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembélé, who recorded a 32-minute hat-trick to become the first player to score a first-half hat-trick in a World Cup in 32 years.

It was the Frenchman's first hat-trick for the national team, and it comes after the PSG forward was shifted from attacking midfield to the right wing for the Iraq match, drastically improving his output.

Against Senegal, Dembélé looked lost, struggling to feed Mbappe in front of him, or even connect a pass with Doué or Michael Olise playing on either side of him. Once he was shifted out to the wing, Dembélé found his form, with four goals in two games, putting him well within the conversation in the highly-competitive race for the World Cup Golden Boot.

"It was a unique and important moment for me," said Dembélé when speaking to the media postgame after being named Player of the Match. "I much preferred this than my performance vs Senegal, as I influenced the match greatly."

Despite the loss, Norway players were in good spirits after qualifying for the knockout stages in a World Cup for the first time since the 1998 tournament in France. Bologna defender Torbjørn Heggem spoke about what it means to Norway for the national team to progress to the next round, saying "It means everything. That was our goal when we came here. [...] We haven't been at the World Cup for a lot of years and to be in the knockout stages, it's amazing."

After claiming the top spot in Group I, France look ahead to facing Sweden on Tuesday, June 30th, at NY/NJ Stadium. This puts Les Bleus on a collision course with Germany in a potential Round of 16 match on July 4 in Philadelphia. Norway, after finishing in second place, will face Cote d'Ivoire in Dallas on the June 30 before a possible date with either Brazil or Japan in East Rutherford, New Jersey on July 5.