Dembele sprinkled magic before knockout stage, Senegal raised their hopes with convincing victory

As the final round of Group I came to a close, France and Senegal recorded important victories ahead of the knockout stage. France did not face Norway at full strength, with the Scandinavians missing several of their biggest stars, but that did nothing to slow down Les Bleus. Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembelee stole the show with a hat-trick, while Desire Doue put the finishing touch on the match by sealing the final 4-1 scoreline.

In the other match, Senegal knew they had to beat Iraq—and do so by a convincing margin—to improve their chances of advancing. They delivered exactly that, cruising to a 5-0 victory that significantly boosted their goal difference. Now, all that remains is to see whether it will be enough to secure a place in the knockout stage.

The French nearly made the perfect start, coming within inches of opening the scoring just 20 seconds after kickoff. Kylian Mbappe burst down the right wing and unleashed a powerful effort that crashed off the crossbar, giving Norway an early warning of what was to come.

They maintained relentless pressure, and just a few minutes later Kone tested goalkeeper Selvik with a fierce strike from the edge of the box.

The breakthrough finally arrived in the 7th minute. Ousmane Dembele collected a superb pass on the right, skipped past his defender with a clever piece of skill and calmly fired home to make it 1-0.

France continued to create chances almost at will, with Olise coming close to doubling the lead before being denied by a last-ditch block.

Norway briefly threatened when Strand Larsen found himself in a great position inside the box, but he blazed his effort well over Maignan's goal. France quickly regained control, with Mbappe forcing another save after a dangerous run down the left.

The second goal came in spectacular fashion in the 20th minute. Dembele needed only a split second to set himself before unleashing a brilliant strike from around 20 meters that flew beyond Selvik and into the net, putting France firmly in command at 2-0.

However, the response from Norway was immediate. Straight from the restart, Aasgaard received the ball just outside the penalty area, breezed past Dayot Upamecano with ease and beat Maignan to reduce the deficit to 2-1, capping off a frantic spell of football.

Any hopes of a Norwegian comeback were quickly crushed by the unstoppable Dembele. In the 32nd minute, France patiently worked the ball around the Norwegian defense before finding the Ballon d'Or winner with far too much space inside the box. Dembele made no mistake, completing a stunning hat-trick in just over half an hour to restore France's two-goal advantage.

The chances kept coming before halftime. Tchouameni fired over from long range, while Mbappe continued to torment Norway's back line with his pace and creativity. In stoppage time, the Real Madrid superstar produced another brilliant through ball for Kone, who found himself one-on-one with Selvik, but the Norwegian goalkeeper stood his ground and made an excellent save to prevent France from extending their lead even further.

France comfortably saw out the second half to secure a 3-1 victory over Norway, confirming their place at the top of Group I. While the first 45 minutes were packed with goals and excitement, the second half was far more controlled, with Mike Maignan producing a couple of crucial saves to preserve his side's advantage.

Norway were handed a golden opportunity to get back into the match just three minutes after the restart. Oscar Bobb burst into the penalty area, where Theo Hernandez arrived a fraction too late and brought him down, leaving the referee with no choice but to point to the spot. Strand Larsen stepped up to take the penalty, but Maignan guessed correctly, diving the right way to make an outstanding save and deny Norway a lifeline.

France responded by looking to restore complete control of the contest. In the 56th minute, Mbappe collected the ball around 20 meters from goal and tried his luck from distance, but his powerful effort sailed just over the crossbar.

Norway refused to give up and came close again in the 72nd minute. After a defensive mistake by France, Bobb found himself in another dangerous position inside the box, only to be denied once more by the outstanding Maignan, who reacted brilliantly to keep the score unchanged.

As the match entered its closing stages, France threatened to add a fourth goal on the counterattack. Bradley Barcola broke away down the left flank and had teammates waiting in the middle, but opted to go for goal himself. His effort was well saved by the Norwegian goalkeeper, preventing the margin from becoming even more convincing.

Desire Doue put the finishing touch on the match two minutes from time, meeting a fine cross inside the box with a well-placed header to beat the Norwegian goalkeeper and seal a convincing 4-1 victory.

SENEGAL - IRAQ 5-0

The Lions of Teranga started brightly and almost found the breakthrough in the third minute. Following a corner, Idrissa Gana Gueye struck from the edge of the penalty area, with his effort taking a deflection and nearly sneaking into the net before Iraq managed to clear for another corner.

That warning proved to be only temporary. Just two minutes later, Senegal made their early dominance count. Lamine Camara delivered another excellent corner from the right, and Seck rose highest to power a header past Basil, giving Senegal a deserved 1-0 lead.

The match took another dramatic turn shortly afterward. In the ninth minute, referee Anthony Taylor was sent to the pitchside monitor to review a challenge involving Sulaka, who had pulled Mane back after Senegal won possession in a dangerous area just outside the penalty box. After consulting VAR, Taylor upgraded the decision and showed Sulaka a straight red card in the 13th minute, leaving Iraq to play the remainder of the match with ten men.

Mane nearly made Iraq pay immediately. The Senegal captain stepped up to take the resulting free kick and forced a brilliant diving save from Basil, who appeared to injure his shoulder while keeping the effort out but was able to continue.

With an extra man, Senegal dominated possession and patiently searched for a second goal. Ismail Jakobs came close in the 33rd minute, firing a powerful effort from around 20 yards that flashed just wide of the right-hand post.

Although they were a man down, Iraq gradually recovered from the early setbacks. After a chaotic opening spell, they became much more organized defensively, frustrating Senegal despite wave after wave of attacks around the edge of the penalty area.

There was one final chance before the interval when Mane surged forward in stoppage time, shrugged off Zidane Iqbal's challenge and fired narrowly over the crossbar.

Senegal resumed the second half on the front foot and nearly doubled their advantage in the 51st minute. After Iraq failed to clear their lines, the ball fell kindly to Sadio Mane near the penalty spot, but the veteran forward failed to make clean contact and sent his effort high over the bar.

The pressure continued, and just three minutes later Ismaila Sarr forced a fine low save from Jalal Hassan, who managed to keep Iraq in the game—for only a couple more minutes.

In the 56th minute, Senegal finally got the second goal they had been searching for, and it came thanks to a costly Iraqi mistake. Zidane Iqbal failed to deal with the ball inside his own penalty area, allowing Camara to race to the byline before cutting it back perfectly for Sarr, who calmly finished to make it 2-0.

The floodgates then opened. Just 89 seconds after coming off the bench, Pape Gueye produced the goal of the game. The midfielder received the ball on the right side of the box, took one touch to set himself and curled a stunning strike beyond Jalal Hassan to extend Senegal's lead to 3-0.

Gueye was not done there. In the 71st minute, he completed his brace in spectacular fashion, running onto a cushioned header before unleashing a thunderous first-time strike from the edge of the area that flew past the helpless Iraqi goalkeeper. It was a sensational finish that made it 4-0.

Senegal continued to attack relentlessly. Sadio Mane came within inches of adding his name to the scoresheet in the 75th minute, only to see his looping effort crash against the far post.Hassan then denied Nicolas Jackson with another excellent save after the Chelsea striker turned and fired on goal.

There was still time for one final moment of brilliance. In the 82nd minute, Iliman Ndiaye picked up the ball around 20 yards from goal, drove forward confidently and unleashed a powerful strike that gave Hassan absolutely no chance, sealing a commanding 5-0 victory.

It was a superb second-half performance from Senegal, who overwhelmed Iraq with wave after wave of attacks and turned a narrow halftime lead into a resounding win. Whether the emphatic victory will be enough to book their place in the knockout stage remains to be seen, but Pape Thiaw's men could hardly have done more to improve their chances.

WORLD CUP - GROUP STAGE (ROUND 3)

Group I

Friday

Norway - France 1-4 (1-3)

/Aasgaard 21 - Dembele 7,20, 32, Doue 90+4/

Senegal - Iraq 5-0 (1-0)

/Diarra 4, Sarr 56, Gueye 59, 72, Ndiaye 82/