Dembélé Scores Second-Fastest World Cup Hat-Trick. See Who's in the Top 5

More than France's 4-1 victory over Norway in the third matchday of Group I – especially since coach Stale Solbakken made 10 changes to the Scandinavian side's typical lineup, as his team had already qualified – it's Ousmane Dembélé's three goals that are making headlines worldwide and causing a stir at the 2026 World Cup.

It's not just because it was a hat-trick, as it's not the first of this tournament, but due to the speed with which the Golden Ball winner achieved it: a mere 32 minutes!

The Paris Saint-Germain winger scored in the 7th, 20th, and 32nd minutes, securing the second-fastest hat-trick ever in World Cup finals since 1954.

• 7th Minute - Mbappé passes the ball to the sideline, Dembélé cuts inside, executes two dribbles past Bjorkan, and scores with his right foot, a powerful shot into the far corner;

• 20th Minute - From the center, Mbappé again passes the ball to the right, to Dembélé. The Golden Ball winner receives it, dribbles past Bjorkan, and superbly places the ball with a shot from outside the box;

• 32nd Minute - Tchouameni finds Dembélé in the opponent's box, the number seven once again bewilders Bjorkan and elegantly shoots into the far corner.

Only Austrian Marcel Probst's 24-minute hat-trick, achieved in Austria's 5-0 victory against Czechoslovakia at the 1954 Switzerland edition, was faster.

1. Marcel Probst (24 minutes) in Austria 5-0 Czechoslovakia at the 1954 World Cup

2. Ousmane Dembélé (32 minutes) in Norway vs. France at the 2026 World Cup

3. Gary Lineker (35 minutes) in England 3-0 Poland at the 1986 World Cup

4. Gerd Muller (38 minutes) in West Germany 5-2 Bulgaria at the 1970 World Cup

5. Gustav Wetterstrom (44 minutes) in Sweden 8-0 Cuba at the 1938 World Cup

Dembélé, who had already scored in the previous match, a 3-0 win against Iraq, also matched the achievements of Just Fontaine and Kylian Mbappé, who both scored three goals for Les Bleus in World Cup finals matches.

In 1958, Just Fontaine stood out with a hat-trick against Paraguay and four goals against Germany. Kylian Mbappé, meanwhile, scored a hat-trick in the final against Argentina in 2022.

Dembélé has now reached 4 goals in this World Cup, equaling his teammate Kylian Mbappé on the scoring charts, who provided him with two assists this Friday. Lionel Messi, with 5 goals, remains the top scorer of this edition. Messi has only played two games so far.

Regarding hat-tricks, this was the third of the 2024 edition, following those by Argentina's Lionel Messi against Algeria (3-0) and Canada's Jonathan David against Qatar (6-0).

In the previous edition, Qatar 2022, only two were recorded: Portugal's Gonçalo Ramos against Switzerland (6-1) and Kylian Mbappé against Argentina in the final (3-3).