France Defeats Norway 4-1 in FIFA World Cup Qualifier

Kathmandu. With the help of Ousmane Dembele's historic hat-trick, France registered a massive 4-1 victory over Norway in the final match of Group 'I' of the World Cup. France managed to remain at the top of the group with a win in the match held on Saturday morning at Boston Stadium, USA.

French striker Ousmane Dembele made his mark in the first half of the match. He completed his hat-trick within just 32 minutes by scoring in the 7th, 20th, and 32nd minutes. This is his first hat-trick in the World Cup for the French national team. With this performance, Dembele has moved up to third place in the 'Golden Boot' race with 4 goals and 1 assist.

Since Norway had already secured a place in the 'Round of 32', coach Stale Solbakken made extensive changes to the team. Star striker Erling Haaland was rested on the bench for this match. Thilo Asgaard scored a goal for Norway in the 21st minute, raising hopes of a comeback. However, Norway missed a golden opportunity to make a comeback when Jorgen Strand Larsen missed a penalty in the 50th minute.

Desiree Doue added another goal in injury time of the match, ensuring a comfortable 4-1 victory for France. France secured the top spot in Group 'I' with 9 points by winning all three matches of the group stage. Norway, with 2 wins and 1 loss in 3 matches, collected 6 points and entered the final 32 by finishing second in the group.

In another match in the same group, Senegal defeated Iraq by a wide margin of 5-0. Senegal rained goals on Iraq, which was reduced to 10 players after Rebin Sulaka received a red card in the 13th minute.