France star Ousmane Dembélé scores first-half hat trick in World Cup vs Norway

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Ousmane Dembélé's struggles at major tournaments seem to be a thing of the past.

The France superstar scored a remarkable hat trick in the first 32 minutes of Friday's World Cup match against Norway, making it four goals in three games at this tournament.

Dembélé opened the scoring just seven minutes in at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, chopping past his defender after a great long pass from Kylian Mbappé and then hammering home a right-footed shot.

Mbappé would assist Dembélé yet again on 20 minutes. This time, the reigning Ballon d'Or winner cut in from the right onto his favored left foot and curled an unstoppable shot into the far post.

After Dembélé's second, Norway quickly pulled a goal back through Thelo Aasgaard, but Dembélé would complete his hat trick after just 32 minutes.

Once again, the winger cut onto his left foot when coming in from the right, showing great patience as he found space in the box and placed the ball inside the far corner.

Dembélé scored the first hat trick in the first half of a World Cup game since Russia's Oleg Salenko did so in 1994 against Cameroon. Salenko went on to score five goals in a 6-1 victory, setting a record for the most goals in a single World Cup game.

It was also the second-fastest World Cup hat trick, only trailing Erich Probst, who scored three times in the opening 24 minutes in 1954 for Austria against Czechoslovakia.

Dembélé breaks major tournament drought

Dembélé entered the World Cup with a spotty track record at major tournaments.

The 29-year-old had not scored in 19 major international tournament games leading into the World Cup, but has now found the net four times in three games.

Dembélé went scoreless in France's opening-match win against Senegal before finding the net in a victory over Iraq.