Key events<\/p>\n
Half-time entertainment.<\/p>\n
Share<\/a>HALF TIME: Norway 1-3 France<\/p>\n The Ousmane Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 Show: end of part one.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 45 min +5: France<\/a> pass and probe. Then suddenly Dembele wedges a pass down the right and nearly releases Mbappe into the box. Not quite, too much juice on the ball, which flies out for a goal kick, but he earns a thumbs-up from his team-mate for the vision.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 45 min +3: As well as inserting himself into the race for the Golden Boot, Ousmane Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 has become just the third player in history to score a hat-trick for France at the World Cup<\/a>, following Kylian Mbapp\u00e9\u2019s three in the 2022 final, and a hat-trick and a four-goal haul for the legendary Just Fontaine in 1958, against Paraguay and West Germany respectively.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.51 EDT<\/p>\n 45 min +1: The first of five additional minutes, and Olise sweeps an insouciant shot over the bar from distance. The final score of this match could end up being anything.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 45 min: Now it\u2019s Doue versus Selvik in a one-on-one duel, and again the keeper does enough. Selvik has made several huge stops, he\u2019s playing excellently, yet someone\u2019s just scored one of the quickest World Cup<\/a> hat-tricks in history past him. What you gonna do?<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 44 min: More end-to-end shenanigans as Aasgaard sends a ball across the face of the France<\/a> goal from the right, Upamecano back-heel-volleying a clearance from a couple of yards out with Stand Larsen lurking. And then Dembele, in space on the right, messes up a cross with team-mates queuing up in the middle of the box.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 42 min: Falchener chunks a backpass and allows Doue to nip in. Doue\u2019s just got the keeper to beat, but Selvik smothers at the striker\u2019s feet as he tries to round him.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 40 min: Four goals already, plus a couple of half-decent positions for Norway<\/a>. In the dugout, Erling Haaland, on four goals in this all-star race, allows himself a wry smile.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 38 min: Dembele\u2019s hat-trick is also not the earliest in a World Cup<\/a> finals match, despite being completed on the 32-minute mark. Erich Probst of Austria notched one after just 24 minutes of a first-round game against Czechoslovakia in 1954. But it\u2019s fast! My God c\u2019est rapide!<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.43 EDT<\/p>\n 36 min: Schjelderup is flipped up 30 yards from goal, but nothing comes of the resulting free kick. Norway<\/a> don\u2019t appear to be giving up quite yet.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 34 min: That\u2019s not the quickest hat-trick at a World Cup<\/a> finals: L\u00e1szl\u00f3 Kiss of Hungary needed just seven minutes in 1982 against El Salvador. But it\u2019s fast! Mon Dieu it\u2019s fast.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.39 EDT<\/p>\n GOAL! Norway 1-3 France (Dembele 32)<\/p>\n It\u2019s a third curler into the bottom right for Dembele, who teases Bjorkan again. A couple of touches to make space. Whip. In. What a player! What a hat-trick, scored in 25 minutes!<\/p>\n France\u2019s Ousmane Dembele shoots \u2026 Photograph: Jeenah Moon\/ReutersNorway\u2019s Egil Selvik is beaten by France\u2019s Ousmane Dembele … Photograph: Dylan Martinez\/ReutersDembele celebrates completing his hat-trick. Photograph: Dylan Martinez\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.52 EDT<\/p>\n 31 min: Schjeldrup slips a ball down the inside-left channel and very nearly releases Stand Larsen. Upamecano does enough to usher the striker away from the box.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 29 min: Aasgaard\u2019s flick down the left sends Schjelderup into space. A low cross to the near post. Maignan smothers, with Stand Larsen lurking. Norway<\/a> suddenly fancy this now.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 28 min: This match has been brilliant fun. Has the Hydration Break jiggered its momentum? Of course it has! On that very subject, here\u2019s Daniel Storey: \u201cWill the Viking rowers come to regret this? A cricket score could derail all momentum. There\u2019s managing minutes and then there is playing a B team against one of the best attacks in the tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 26 min: Hydration Break FIN.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 24 min: \u2026 and that\u2019s bevvies! BOOOOO go the crowd. Everyone at home meanwhile piles to the kitchen. [consults Guardian tipples and nibbles guide] A pint of pastis liqueur and some chocolate-covered corn snacks, please!<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 23 min: There were 72 seconds between those goals. And now France<\/a> win a corner, which Olise meets on the edge of the box and smoothly whistles a shot goalwards. Blocked. The scoring ain\u2019t over, y\u2019all.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>GOAL! Norway 1-2 France (Aasgaard 21)<\/p>\n Straight from the kick-off, Norway<\/a> hit back! The ball\u2019s shuttled down the left and in-field for Aasgaard, who drops a shoulder to see off Upamecano before planting a low drive into the bottom left, Maignan rooted to the spot!<\/p>\n Thelo Aasgaard shoots \u2026 Photograph: Jewel Samad\/AFP\/Getty ImagesFrance keeper Mike Maignan is wrong footed and Norway are back in the game. Photograph: Mattia Ozbot\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.47 EDT<\/p>\n GOAL! Norway 0-2 France (Dembele 20)<\/p>\n Dembele cuts in from the right again, then curl-pearls a shot across Selvik and into the left-hand side of the net. Simple as that. Unstoppable. Mbappe again involved in the build-up, and he was tugged back by Ostigaard, but play was waved on.<\/p>\n Ousmane Dembele unleashes a curler \u2026 Photograph: Dylan Martinez\/ReutersNorway goalkeeper Egil Selvik is beaten by a shot from Ousmane Dembele for his, and France\u2019s, second goal. Photograph: Martin Meissner\/APDembele celebrates with teammates. Photograph: Mike Segar\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.37 EDT<\/p>\n 19 min: Aasgaard hits a speculative belter from distance. Blocked. \u201cAlthough I understand the need to rest players, are fans, who have paid a lot of money to attend this game, belng short changed by Norway<\/a> starting with their star player on the bench?\u201d wonders Stephen Bradfield. \u201cThis sort of thing didn\u2019t happen in 1970.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 17 min: Mbappe cuts in from the left and has a batter towards the bottom left. Selvik makes his third big stop of the game so far. Without him, Norway<\/a> would be in all sorts already.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 16 min: That\u2019s a decent response from Norway<\/a> B. They wouldn\u2019t be human if they hadn\u2019t been wondering what had hit them early doors. But they\u2019re slowly getting into the game. Nevertheless, France stand-in coach Guy St\u00e9phan looks much more relaxed than Solbakken. He\u2019s standing in for Didier Deschamps, who is back home for his mother\u2019s funeral. Before the game, Norway presented a bouquet to France in sympathy, a thoughtful touch.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 14 min: Thorstvedt is clipped by Tchouameni out on the Norway<\/a> right. A chance for Berg to swing a free kick into the mixer \u2026 which he does, but France half-clear. However the ball comes back into the box, and Stand Larsen kills it, sending Upamecano off to the shops for a copy of L\u2019Equipe. Strand Larsen is alone, ten yards out, but blazes over the bar. Norway should be level.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 12 min: Mbappe slips Olise into the box down the left. Olise tries to guide a shot across Selvik, towards the unguarded bottom right, but Ostigard slides in to block, just in time.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 10 min: Strand Larsen has the chance to release Bobb, in all sorts of space down the inside-right channel, but messes up the pass. A shot\u2019s eventually sent goalwards from long range, but the chance to seriously test Maignan is long gone.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 9 min: On the touchline, Norway<\/a> coach St\u00e5le Solbakken already looks concerned. Berg picking up an early yellow card for hauling back Olise won\u2019t help his mood.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>GOAL! Norway 0-1 France (Dembele 7)<\/p>\n This had been coming all right. Mbappe, dropping deep, sends a diagonal pass towards Dembele on the right flank. Dembele runs aggressively towards the Norway<\/a> box, chops past the flailing Bjorkan, and whistles a shot across Selvik and into the left-hand side of the net. What a goal! By the looks of it, it won\u2019t be tonight\u2019s last.<\/p>\n France’s Ousmane Dembele scores their first goal. Photograph: Dylan Martinez\/ReutersDembele (right) celebrates his goal with Jules Kounde. Photograph: Winslow Townson\/Imagn Images\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.24 EDT<\/p>\n 5 min: Kone, just to the right of the D, creams a shot towards the right-hand side of the net that Selvik does very well to parry clear with a strong hand. Then Doue has a dig from distance. This one\u2019s easy for the keeper, but that\u2019s two big saves already by Selvik, who could be in for a busy day.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 4 min: Selvik got a touch to that Mbappe shot, you know, tipping the fierce rising strike onto the post. Doing just enough to save the day. What a save that was! Had Mbappe scored, it would have been the third quickest World Cup<\/a> finals goal of all time.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 2 min: What a start that would have been. An early reminder, perhaps, that Norway<\/a> are fielding very much their second string. \u201cTalking about kit clashes,\u201d begins Philip Ames, \u201cI remember watching a game – Arsenal (in their red shirts with white sleeves) vs Sheffield Wednesday (in their blue shirts with white sleeves) – late 60s\/early 70s, on the black and white tele, because we was poor. I think it was David Coleman commentating because he an obvious candidate. \u2018And for those of you watching in black and white, Arsenal are in the red shirts.\u2019 (Thanks for manning another MBM for us who are working and unable to turn the TV on. I have a color set these days.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 22 sec: Mbappe tears off down the right, enters the box, and unleashes a rising drive from a tight angle that beats Selvik only to crash off the underside of the crossbar and away. What a start that would have been! Kylian wants another Golden Boot!<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.05 EDT<\/p>\n A moment of silence to pay respect to the victims of the earthquakes in Venezuela. Beautifully observed. Then Norway<\/a> get the ball rolling.<\/p>\n The players, officials and fans take a moment of silence for the victims of the Venezuelan earthquake. Photograph: Justin Setterfield\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.07 EDT<\/p>\n The teams are out at Boston Stadium, home of the New England Patriots (football) and New England Revolution (soccer). Norway<\/a> wear red, while France\u2019s kit is minty. The Norwegian national anthem is proud and stately \u2013 \u266a \u266b \u266c Love it and think of our father and mother, and the legendary night that lowers dreams upon our earth \u266c \u266a \u266b \u2013 while La Marseillaise is the greatest national anthem of all. I mean, c\u2019mon. What a tune. We\u2019ll be off in a minute.<\/p>\n France\u2019s Kylian Mbappe, Mike Maignan and Maxence Lacroix join in with La Marseillaise. Photograph: Dylan Martinez\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.04 EDT<\/p>\n Pre-match postbag. \u201cOff to our local village salle des f\u00eates shortly for what\u2019s known in this part of France as an auberge espagnol – you all bring a couple of dishes and share them communally. Then the match shown on a big screen. Loyalty to my country of residence means I shall have to support France, but Norway<\/a> do have two Fulham players in the squad, so a little part of me \u2026\u201d \u2013 Richard Hirst<\/p>\n \u201cBeen traveling and I am now going to settle down in the hotel bar in front of their giant screen for the match, but the point is, if this WC were to be played in Europe today, we would need six hydration breaks. The weather is TERRIBLE\u201d \u2013 krishnamoorthy v<\/p>\n \u201cAlexei Lalas starts today\u2019s recap of the USA loss to Turkiye by saying \u2018last night I checked the flights back to Istanbul\u2019. The very definition of Ugly American. What a d###\u201d \u2013 Mary Waltz<\/p>\n \u201cEven with the star man Haaland not playing, I\u2019m sure Fifa will still rake in a few Bobb\u201d \u2013 Peter Oh<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.42 EDT<\/p>\n As each group draws to its conclusion, hope becomes an ever more theoretical concept for poor old Scotland. But all is not quite lost yet. This particular match doesn\u2019t have any bearing on Scottish hopes of scraping through to the knockouts, but the other Group I game between Senegal and Iraq does. Should Senegal fail to win, or Iraq fail to win by three goals, this section will throw Scotland one of the four lifelines they require to stay alive. Admittedly that would most likely boost their chance of survival from its current level of 7% to roughly 7.000001%, but baby steps. Daniel Gallan is following that match, and I\u2019ll doubtless touch upon this subject here too, one way or another, at the very least at the very end.<\/p>\n Sigh.<\/p>\n Oh Scotland. Photograph: PAShare<\/a><\/p>\n Norway are the designated home team tonight, so they get first dibs on kit. They\u2019ll wear their first-choice red shirts, so France switch to their second-choice light-green strip to ensure viewing isn\u2019t a fiasco for colourblind fans. The pennant that captain Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 will hand over is a bit word heavy (even with the out-of-shot FFF logo, trust us) but the French tricolore is so beautiful it can handle all the heavy aesthetic lifting.<\/p>\n No logo. Photograph: Patrick Smith\/FIFA\/Getty Images<\/p>\n There isn\u2019t a picture of both Norwegian shirt and their pennant on the wires, and you know what the MBM will always plump for first. But you\u2019ll see plenty of their kit dotted throughout the report anyway, and isn\u2019t that pennant a masterclass in Nordic minimalism?<\/p>\n Yes logo. Photograph: Patrick Smith\/FIFA\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.52 EDT<\/p>\n France make four changes to the team selected to start the win over Iraq. D\u00e9sir\u00e9 Dou\u00e9, Aur\u00e9lien Tchouam\u00e9ni, Th\u00e9o Hernandez and Maxence Lacroix come in for Bradley Barcola, Adrien Rabiot, Lucas Digne and William Saliba, who all drop to the bench. Both teams are certain of qualifying for the knockouts, so it would appear France are placing more importance on finishing top than Norway<\/a> boss St\u00e5le Solbakken. Didier Deschamps is absent, having flown home \u200bto attend his mother\u2019s funeral.<\/p>\n D\u00e9sir\u00e9 Dou\u00e9<\/a>Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a013.54 EDT<\/p>\n So much for that Erling Haaland versus Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 shootout: Norway<\/a> coach Stale Solbakken has rested the striker. He\u2019s one of ten players stood down, with the only regular starter to retain his starting spot being Benfica midfielder Fredrik Aursnes \u2026 who is being redeployed tonight at right-back.<\/p>\n Fredrik Aursnes<\/a>Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.31 EDT<\/p>\n The teams<\/p>\n Norway: Selvik, Aursnes, Falchener, Ostigard, Bjorkan, Thorstvedt, Berg, Aasgaard, Bobb, Larsen, Schjelderup. France: Maignan, Kounde, Upamecano, Lacroix, Theo Hernandez, Tchouameni, Kone, Dembele, Olise, Doue, Mbappe. Referee: Michael Oliver (England).<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u2026 and here\u2019s what France<\/a> have gotten up to. A Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 double double, giving us a chance to double down on our double-double riff with a double-double-riff double.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Here\u2019s how Norway<\/a> have done so far. An Erling Haaland double double.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n This is how we saw it from the outset. Not much has changed. Yet. Reacquaint yourself with both squads, and let\u2019s go.<\/p>\n
Subs: Nyland, Tangvik, Thorsby, Ajer, Wolfe, Sorloth, Berge, Haaland, Odegaard, Pedersen, Heggem, Nusa, Hauge, Langas, Ryerson.<\/p>\n
Subs: Samba, Risser, Gusto, Digne, Thuram, Barcola, Kante, Rabiot, Konate, Saliba, Zaire Emery, Lucas Hernandez, Mateta, Cherki, Akliouche.<\/p>\n