Kylian Mbappé scored twice on his 100th appearance for France to inspire a 3-0 win over Iraq, a contest that became the first World Cup match this yea
Kylian Mbappé scored twice on his 100th appearance for France to inspire a 3-0 win over Iraq, a contest that became the first World Cup match this year to be disrupted by a weather delay, as Les Bleus booked their place in the last 32 with a game to spare.
France made the perfect start to mark Mbappé’s landmark cap.
After just 14 minutes, the captain combined in a one-two with Michael Olise before bending a left-footed effort beyond Iraq goalkeeper Ahmed Basil to open the scoring.
Basil had been given his first start of the tournament after Jalal Hassan conceded four goals in Iraq’s opening defeat to Norway.
The match then took an extraordinary turn at halftime. Severe storms moving through the Philadelphia area forced officials to order players and supporters into covered areas, turning what should have been a routine 15-minute interval into a delay of more than two hours as lightning concerns halted proceedings at Lincoln Financial Field.
When play eventually resumed, France wasted little time extending their lead. Iraq defender Zaid Tahseen’s poor pass back to his goalkeeper was seized upon by Ousmane Dembélé, who squared it for Mbappé to tap home his second of the night in the 54th minute. It was the second time a goalkeeping error had cost Iraq a goal at this tournament.
Dembélé then got on the scoresheet himself in the 66th minute, finally ending a long wait for a goal at a major tournament — his first in 20 such appearances across the World Cup and European Championship — to put the result beyond doubt.
The brace took Mbappé’s World Cup tally to 16 goals, level with Germany’s Miroslav Klose and one ahead of Brazil’s Ronaldo, though still two behind Lionel Messi, who moved clear at the top of the all-time list with 18 after his own double for Argentina earlier on the same day.
Mbappé also became only the fourth player in tournament history to score twice or more in at least three consecutive World Cup appearances, joining Messi, Sándor Kocsis and Guillermo Stabile.
Iraq, appearing at just their second World Cup after debuting in 1986, have now lost all five of their matches in the competition’s history, a wretched run matched only by El Salvador.
Their problems have partly been self-inflicted, with only Tunisia making more errors leading to goals at this tournament than Iraq’s three.
Coach Graham Arnold’s side now need victory over Senegal in their final group game to keep alive any hope of advancing as one of the best third-placed teams.
For France, the win means Didier Deschamps has now secured 16 World Cup victories as manager, equalling Helmut Schön’s record for the competition, and sets up a potential collision course with Norway for top spot in Group I.
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