The blockbuster match at Boston stadium had been billed as a showdown between Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland.
Instead, it was Ousmane Dembélé's one-man show.
With Haaland benched and Mbappé goalless, the Ballon d'Or winner produced a sensational first-half performance crowned with his first hat-trick for France, powering Les Bleus to a 4-1 win over a second-string Norway team.
Read moreWorld Cup 2026: Group standings
The dazzling display puts him on four goals at the World Cup so far, level with Mappé and Haaland, and just one behind Argentina's Lionel Messi.
That's all from us
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We'll be back soon with results from Group H, with Spain, Uruguay, Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia all still hoping to clinch a place in the knockouts.
Deschamps to return with France squad on Saturday
Guy Stéphan's first words are for Didier Deschamps, the man he replaced on the France bench today.
"Our thoughts are with Didier, who will be joining us tomorrow; he’ll be at training with us tomorrow and we can’t wait to see him," he says.
"As for the match, we did what we had to do. We saw a lot of enjoyment in the game, plenty of bursts of pace and lots of goal-scoring opportunities. Ousmane (Dembélé) scoring a hat-trick, Désiré Doué scoring the first headed goal of his entire career – these are all positive things."
France too fast for Norway's reserves
Norway coach Stale Solbakken says his second-string team deserve credit for their fighting spirit against France, despite conceding four goals.
"It goes very fast when we lose the ball a few times," Solbakken said. "Offensively, we created chances throughout the whole game, so the boys should have credit for that. It was not only in the second half that we created chances, we created big chances."
Striker Jorgen Strand Larsen blew a chance to get Norway back into the game early in the second half when his soft penalty was saved by Mike Maignan.
"We had four big chances in the first half, so I think we deserve credit for it, but you can't lose the ball in certain areas here, because it goes so fast the other way," Solbakken said.
Senegal keep World Cup hopes alive
And here's more on that thumping Senegal win.
Dembélé joins Golden Boot race
So much for all the talk of Mbappé and Haaland facing off... This was Dembélé's day.
The Ballon d'Or is now level with his captain and the Norwegian giant on four goals at this tournament.
The only player to complete a hat-trick earlier in a World Cup match is Erich Probst, who got three inside the first 24 minutes for Austria against Czechoslovakia in 1954.
Here's our match report
Senegal stay in World Cup hunt after 5-0 rout of Iraq
In the group's other game, Senegal have crushed 10-man Iraq 5-0 to remain in the running for a place in the round of 32.
Defeat for Iraq ends their hopes of reaching the World Cup knockout stages.
Full time! Norway 1-4 France!
France practically switched off after the break, but their sheer wealth of talent and some poor finishing from Norway ensured this was a comfortable win.
Now it's on to the round of 32 for Les Bleus, with their opponents yet to be determined.
Norway will play Ivory Coast.
Doué makes it 4-1 for France!
France have been very average in the second half and yet they're the ones to score, almost at the first opportunity.
Five minutes of added time
Mbappé comes off
No more goals for Mbappé in the Golden Boot race. He's replaced by Risser.
Les Bleus sloppy
Kounde gifts Norway a corner, but it's headed away by Barcola, who is defending better than France's defenders.
Norway still have most of the ball.
Senegal 4-0 Iraq
Senegal are now piling on the goals.
Roooow!
The Vikings are rowing in the stands... their team really should've scored a second by now.
Photo: Jeenah Moon, Reuters
Maignan with a terrific save
A spendid save from the French keeper to deny Norway's Bobb, who has been excellent in the second half.
France need to address those gaping gaps at the back.
A third for Senegal!
Pape Gueye makes it 3-0 for Senegal barely two minutes after coming off the bench.
That's even better news for the Lions of Teranga... and very, very bad news for Scotland.
Dembélé comes off to standing ovation
The hat-trick man is replaced by Bradley Barcola.
The attacking talent on that France bench is truly something.
Mbappé blocked
France have settled down after those jittery few minutes.
Their captain does one of his blistering runs before firing from the edge of the box, but a defender gets in the way.
