France's Ousmane Dembele records second-fastest hat trick in World Cup history vs. Norway

France’s Ousmane Dembele scored the second-fastest hat trick in World Cup history with three goals in 32 minutes against Norway on Friday. Dembele scored his three goals across 26 minutes, as his first came save minutes into the game with a slick right-footed shot. FRANCE GOES UP 1-0 🇫🇷 Ousmane Dembélé scores early to put Les Bleus on the board! pic.twitter.com/tR6fWb3Ckv — FOX Sports (@FOXSports) June 26, 2026 Less than 14 minutes later, he added a second. And then in the 32nd minute, he made it three. Ousmane Dembélé, you are UNREAL! The first time a player has scored a first half hat trick in the FIFA World Cup since 1994 🤯 pic.twitter.com/ofdrPO6mMc — FOX Sports (@FOXSports) June 26, 2026 Erich Probst is the only player to score a hat trick faster than Dembele. And he did it 72 years ago for Austria. Probst scored his three goals in 24 minutes in his team’s win over Czechoslovakia. Ousmane Dembélé has the second-earliest hat trick in World Cup history! 🇦🇹 Erich Probst (24' in 1954 vs CZE) 🇫🇷 Ousmane Dembélé (32' today vs NOR) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Gary Lineker (36' in 1986 vs POL) 🇩🇪 Gerd Müller (38' in 1970 vs Peru) — Paul Carr (@PaulCarr) June 26, 2026 Dembele, the reigning men’s Ballon d’Or winner for the best player in soccer, is now right on the heels of Lionel Messi and tied with his France teammate Kylian Mbappé in the race for the 2026 Golden Boot. Messi, who is set to play his third game of the tournament on Saturday night, has five goals through four games. Dembele, Mbappé, Brazil’s Vinicius Junior and Norway’s Erling Haaland are tied in second with four goals. Haaland didn’t start on Friday for Norway as the team made 10 changes. While Norway and France were meeting for first place in Group I, both teams were already safely into the knockout rounds as the group’s top two teams. That guarantee was clearly enough for Norway, who would play Ivory Coast if it finishes second in the group while the group winner will play a third-place team in the Round of 32.