Didier Deschamps to return to World Cup on Saturday following family funeral

[p]"[b]Obviously I am thinking a lot about Didier. I will talk to him later but we are all really pleased that he is coming back really soon and he will be at training tomorrow afternoon[/b]," Stephan told reporters after [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/france/QkGeVG1n/"]France[/a]'s 4-1 win over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/norway/8rP6JO0H/"]Norway[/a] in their final group game on Friday.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/deschamps-didier/M9jPX2nf/"]Deschamps[/a] missed the match at the Gillette Stadium near Boston in order to attend his mother's funeral in south-western France, after she died earlier in the week.[/p][p]The former France captain will step down as coach of Les Bleus at the end of this World Cup after 14 years in charge.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dembele-ousmane/zsMC2Ec0/"]Ousmane Dembele[/a] was the star performer with a first-half hat-trick as France swatted aside a second-string Norway side to make it three wins out of three and finish first in Group I with a maximum nine points.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/doue-desire/KIUWH2Jq/"]Desire Doue[/a], a teammate of Dembele's at Paris Saint-Germain, scored France's other goal late on.[/p][p]"[b]Ousmane was so clinical today. To score three goals in a World Cup game is exceptional[/b]," said Stephan.[/p][p]"I think Doue's goal was the first header of his career.[/p][p]"[b]There were lots of interesting things in the game and we could probably have scored a couple more goals.[/b][/p][p]"Norway are a quality side but they didn't play a full-strength team.[/p][embed guid="a2f74ad0-6179-42c3-9849-4538c119d8df" url="https://x.com/MotivacionesF/status/2069572776961163387" social-type="twitter" /][p]"[b]It was a great day, with lots of goals and lots of good moments, and the players really enjoyed it[/b]," added the 69-year-old, as Norway rested [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/haaland-erling/UmV9iQmE/"]Erling Haaland[/a] and captain [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/odegaard-martin/ID32TGhp/"]Martin Odegaard[/a].[/p][p]France, World Cup winners in 2018 and runners-up in 2022, were seen as one of the leading contenders coming into the tournament.[/p][p]They have so far lived up to their billing, and will now move on to a last-32 tie next Tuesday at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey against either [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sweden/OQyqbHWB/"]Sweden[/a], who finished third in Group F, or the third-placed finisher in Group G.[/p][p]"[b]We really wanted that first place for logistical reasons because a 45-minute flight is better than three or four hours to Dallas[/b]," pointed out Stephan.[/p][p]Norway will go to Dallas to play [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ivory-coast/G2FRjBgn/"]Ivory Coast[/a] after coming second in the group.[/p]