IF WINNING THE World Cup only boiled down to who can excite and keep you guessing, then France would be gifted the trophy now and could prepare to La Marseillaise their way down the Champs-Elysees to save everyone else the hassle of maintaining a futile belief in glory.
A match that was billed as a straight shootout between Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland instead served as a thrilling reminder of the variety of their attacking options.
They can slice through you with enough pace to cause a speed camera to glitch, or they can punish you with a methodical patience and instinct to strike.
Ousmane Demeble summed that up with his 32-minute hat trick in the first half while Desire Doue was still switched on to guide a deft header home in the 94th minute.
You’d wonder what Dembele was thinking as all the pre-match build up centred around the two marketing beasts of the modern game.
Hi there, 2025 Ballon d’Or winner here. How do you do?
Yeah, back-to-back Champions League winner, that’s me alright.
I’ll just go about my business. Don’t mind me.
Dembele destroyed Norway with comic-book qualities.
Kapow! Goal one blasted in the top corner.
Bam! Goal two curled into the bottom corner.
Kazam! Goal three squeezed in with lethal precision.
When he left the pitch on 65 minutes, he did so to a standing ovation.
Just seconds after Dembele drilled in a cracking precursor to a 32-minute hat-trick, clocked at 100km per hour, a little jingle rang around the Boston Stadium.
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It was the sort of thing you’d expect to hear in the supermarket, just before they announced a special deal at the butcher’s counter or the need for a clean up on aisle three.
This was looking like it would get very messy indeed for Norway; they were lambs to the slaughter.
Leaving Haaland on the bench and making 10 changes to the starting XI was as close to a tacit acknowledgment that they were prepared to take second spot and a clash with the Ivory Coast in Dallas in the round of 32.
But the jingle had nothing to do with this game. Instead, it was to inform people in Boston that Senegal had taken the lead against Iraq in the other game in Group I.
Barely anyone bothered to look up at the screen and watch what happened in Toronto. This was selfie time.
What was happening in Canada was of no interest to anyone here. They even left the table up for a couple of minutes. France and Norway already knew what was required here, and when Dembele made it 2-0 with another superb curling strike from the edge of the box on 20 minutes, you can be sure thoughts were already turning to Sweden in New York.
Thelma Aasgaard responded immediately with a clever dummy and finish to provide some hope of a fightback, but it was snuffed out by the superb Dembele who joined Lionel Messi and Jonathan David in the treble club at this tournament.
He reminded everyone – not that he needed to – of his own enthralling gifts as well as the lethal attacking threats France possess. An array of talent that sets them apart from all their rivals.
But a word about Mbappe’s role in the first two goals. Two assists to go with his four goals coming into this game, and two fine examples of the selflessness and spirit that will be critical to maintain this momentum.
The second, in particular, highlighted the variety he brings to this team.
He was an out-and-out striker with his hold-up play and strength to keep Leo Ostigard at bay. The Norway centre back had a hold of his shorts and was only short of trying to jock Mbappe as he released the pass wide to Dembele on the right.
Maybe the Mbappe of Real Madrid would have thrown his arms in the air and complained to the referee.
Kylian Mbappe gets away from Leo Ostigard. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
But not this version.
The World Cup seems to bring something out in Mbappe that makes him even more endearing.
Dembele faced up the Norway defence but Mbappe sprinted like a man possessed to provide an overlap on the outside to create confusion and options.
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Dembele could easily have played a reverse pass but, instead, took the ball another two yards centrally to caress his strike home.
Teamwork makes the dream work, folks. There is no other way.
France look united and they look brilliant.
Norway made two substitutions at half time but Haaland remained on the bench. He would have been keen to gobble up the early penalty in the second half which Jorgen Strand Larsen saw saved by Mike Maignan.
Haaland’s own record from the spot is far from perfect – he’s missed 10 in his career – but you always trust him on the biggest stage, and this will be the last time Ståle Solbakken will be afforded the luxury of not relying on the Manchester City striker.
He was rested entirely whereas Mbappe, looking to go clear of Miroslav Klose in second place on the all-time World Cup scoring list, was withdrawn on 86 minutes. He will surely add to his tally of 16 soon.
The really serious business is about to begin, the time for fairytales over and replaced by the ruthless desire to succeed by any means necessary.
And maybe when Didier Deschamps, who has temporarily returned home following the death of his mother, has his debrief with assistant coach Guy Stéphan, they will look to the switch off in concentration so early after their second goal, and then again with the concession of the penalty just two minutes after the re-start.
Kylian Mbappe (right) and Erling Haaland embrace during the pre-game ceremony. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Mbappe, Dembele, Doue and Michael Olise take us as close to perfection as possible, but those defensive vulnerabilities will gnaw away until the round of 32.
France don’t have much they need to fix and maybe when there is no margin for error, those concentrations level will sharpen up naturally.
By the end, fans also began to take notice of the jingle, especially as Senegal hit Iraq for five to make those third-place finishes even more intriguing, and with 30 minutes to go, a police helicopter began to hover near a corner where there was a good view.
Word of what was being served up below clearly got around. These are the lengths people will go to for this France team as we begin to sense how they will scale the greatest heights possible in the game.
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Ousmane Dembele's comic-book class can help France scale greatest heights
IF WINNING THE World Cup only boiled down to who can excite and keep you guessing, then France would be gifted the trophy now and could prepare to La Marseillaise their way down the Champs-Elysees to save everyone else the hassle of maintaining a futile belief in glory.
A match that was billed as a straight shootout between Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland instead served as a thrilling reminder of the variety of their attacking options.
They can slice through you with enough pace to cause a speed camera to glitch, or they can punish you with a methodical patience and instinct to strike.
Ousmane Demeble summed that up with his 32-minute hat trick in the first half while Desire Doue was still switched on to guide a deft header home in the 94th minute.
You’d wonder what Dembele was thinking as all the pre-match build up centred around the two marketing beasts of the modern game.
Hi there, 2025 Ballon d’Or winner here. How do you do?
Yeah, back-to-back Champions League winner, that’s me alright.
I’ll just go about my business. Don’t mind me.
Dembele destroyed Norway with comic-book qualities.
Kapow! Goal one blasted in the top corner.
Bam! Goal two curled into the bottom corner.
Kazam! Goal three squeezed in with lethal precision.
When he left the pitch on 65 minutes, he did so to a standing ovation.
Just seconds after Dembele drilled in a cracking precursor to a 32-minute hat-trick, clocked at 100km per hour, a little jingle rang around the Boston Stadium.
It was the sort of thing you’d expect to hear in the supermarket, just before they announced a special deal at the butcher’s counter or the need for a clean up on aisle three.
This was looking like it would get very messy indeed for Norway; they were lambs to the slaughter.
Leaving Haaland on the bench and making 10 changes to the starting XI was as close to a tacit acknowledgment that they were prepared to take second spot and a clash with the Ivory Coast in Dallas in the round of 32.
But the jingle had nothing to do with this game. Instead, it was to inform people in Boston that Senegal had taken the lead against Iraq in the other game in Group I.
Barely anyone bothered to look up at the screen and watch what happened in Toronto. This was selfie time.
What was happening in Canada was of no interest to anyone here. They even left the table up for a couple of minutes. France and Norway already knew what was required here, and when Dembele made it 2-0 with another superb curling strike from the edge of the box on 20 minutes, you can be sure thoughts were already turning to Sweden in New York.
Thelma Aasgaard responded immediately with a clever dummy and finish to provide some hope of a fightback, but it was snuffed out by the superb Dembele who joined Lionel Messi and Jonathan David in the treble club at this tournament.
He reminded everyone – not that he needed to – of his own enthralling gifts as well as the lethal attacking threats France possess. An array of talent that sets them apart from all their rivals.
But a word about Mbappe’s role in the first two goals. Two assists to go with his four goals coming into this game, and two fine examples of the selflessness and spirit that will be critical to maintain this momentum.
The second, in particular, highlighted the variety he brings to this team.
He was an out-and-out striker with his hold-up play and strength to keep Leo Ostigard at bay. The Norway centre back had a hold of his shorts and was only short of trying to jock Mbappe as he released the pass wide to Dembele on the right.
Maybe the Mbappe of Real Madrid would have thrown his arms in the air and complained to the referee.
But not this version.
The World Cup seems to bring something out in Mbappe that makes him even more endearing.
Dembele faced up the Norway defence but Mbappe sprinted like a man possessed to provide an overlap on the outside to create confusion and options.
Dembele could easily have played a reverse pass but, instead, took the ball another two yards centrally to caress his strike home.
Teamwork makes the dream work, folks. There is no other way.
France look united and they look brilliant.
Norway made two substitutions at half time but Haaland remained on the bench. He would have been keen to gobble up the early penalty in the second half which Jorgen Strand Larsen saw saved by Mike Maignan.
Haaland’s own record from the spot is far from perfect – he’s missed 10 in his career – but you always trust him on the biggest stage, and this will be the last time Ståle Solbakken will be afforded the luxury of not relying on the Manchester City striker.
He was rested entirely whereas Mbappe, looking to go clear of Miroslav Klose in second place on the all-time World Cup scoring list, was withdrawn on 86 minutes. He will surely add to his tally of 16 soon.
The really serious business is about to begin, the time for fairytales over and replaced by the ruthless desire to succeed by any means necessary.
And maybe when Didier Deschamps, who has temporarily returned home following the death of his mother, has his debrief with assistant coach Guy Stéphan, they will look to the switch off in concentration so early after their second goal, and then again with the concession of the penalty just two minutes after the re-start.
Mbappe, Dembele, Doue and Michael Olise take us as close to perfection as possible, but those defensive vulnerabilities will gnaw away until the round of 32.
France don’t have much they need to fix and maybe when there is no margin for error, those concentrations level will sharpen up naturally.
By the end, fans also began to take notice of the jingle, especially as Senegal hit Iraq for five to make those third-place finishes even more intriguing, and with 30 minutes to go, a police helicopter began to hover near a corner where there was a good view.
Word of what was being served up below clearly got around. These are the lengths people will go to for this France team as we begin to sense how they will scale the greatest heights possible in the game.
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2026 world cup France kylian mbappe Ousmane Dembele Soccer Trés Bien