Dembele’s Boston Treble Party

Hat-tricks don't happen every day in a FIFA World Cup. Even rarer is one completed in the first half. Ousmane Dembele scored in the 7th, 20th and 32nd minutes for France against Norway in their third Group I match in Boston.

The previous occasion a hat-trick was netted in the first-half of a World Cup was in 1994, by Russian Oleg Salenko against Cameroon. PSG star Dembele was born three years after that historic match in Stanford. Salenko scored a record five goals ‌in the match, which also set another record with Roger Milla becoming the oldest goalscorer at 42.

Dembele is the third hat-trick scorer in the ongoing edition being held in the US, Mexico and Canada. Argentina's talisman Lionel Messi set the hat-trick ball rolling in a 3-0 win over Algeria on June 16, and two days later, Jonathan David of Canada got his treble in a 6-0 win over Qatar.

Dembele's superstar teammate, Kylian Mbappe, famously scored a hat-trick in the final of the 2022 edition against Argentina, which ended 3-3 in regulation time before the South Americans clinched their third title in a shootout.

Iconic Argentine Gabriel Batistuta is the only player to score hat-tricks in different editions (1994, 1998). Bert Patenaude of the United States was the first hat-trick maker in a World Cup. He achieved the feat in 1930 against Paraguay in a group stage match.