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Ousmane Dembele, the French football star and 2025 Ballon d'Or recipient, expressed a preference for his earlier performances against Senegal and Iraq, despite achieving a remarkable hat-trick in the final group stage match against Norway on Friday.

The Paris Saint-Germain forward made history by becoming the first player to score a first-half hat-trick in the FIFA World Cup since Oleg Salenko in 1994. Dembele's hat-trick, completed in just 32 minutes, ranks as the second fastest in World Cup history, following Erich Probst's 24-minute hat-trick for Austria in 1954, according to OptaJoe.

He is now only the third French player to achieve a World Cup hat-trick, joining the ranks of Just Fontaine and Kylian Mbappe. Notably, Dembele's hat-trick goal was the first of the 182 scored in this tournament that involved all 11 players from his team in the build-up, as reported by OptaJoe.

After the victory, Dembele shared with M6, as cited by a sports outlet, that while this performance is a "unique and important moment" for him, he still favors his earlier matches. "I am happy; it is a unique and important moment for me. My performance was good, but I preferred my match against Senegal or against Iraq - I think I was much more influential. We have to stay focused; important things are on the horizon," he stated.

He further emphasized the significance of the win against Norway, saying, "It was an important match to finish top of the group. We want to win every game, and we are going to stay focused because what lies ahead is going to be even more difficult. There are quality players on the pitch, and even on the bench. And with communication, it makes things easier. We understand each other better, so that is good; we need to keep it up."

In the first half, France led Norway 3-1. Dembele opened the scoring with a brilliant finish in the seventh minute and then doubled the lead with a stunning left-footed shot from outside the box in the 20th minute. Norway quickly responded with a goal from Thelo Aasgaard just a minute later, but Dembele completed his hat-trick in the 32nd minute with a powerful strike, restoring France's two-goal advantage.

Fans were disappointed as the anticipated clash between star forwards Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland did not occur, with Norway's manager Stale Solbakken choosing to rest 10 regular starters, including Haaland and captain Martin Odegaard.