Kylian Mbappe scored his second brace of the tournament, and France eased to a 3-0 victory over Iraq in a World Cup match beset by a lengthy weather stoppage.
Mbappe’s goals came nearly three hours apart after thunderstorms in the region on Monday delayed the second-half kickoff by almost two hours.
They take him to 16 all-time World Cup tallies, pulling him level with former record-holder Miroslav Klose. Earlier on Monday, Lionel Messi set a new benchmark of 18 career World Cup goals with his brace in Argentina’s 2-0 victory over Austria.
Mbappe’s four goals also place him one behind Messi in the 2026 Golden Boot race.
Reigning Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele also scored after half-time for two-time champions France (2-0-0, 6 points), who are all but assured of progressing.
Their last-32 place will become official if Norway win or draw against Senegal in the other Group I fixture. That match, staged about two hours away by car in northern New Jersey, kicked off near-simultaneously with the start of the long-awaited second half at Philadelphia Stadium.
Iraq (0-2-0, 0 points) remain alive for one of the eight knockout spots allotted for third-place teams. They will probably need a win in their group finale against Senegal and help elsewhere.
France dominated the early stages, and Mbappe capitalised in the 14th minute. On an innocent-looking sequence on the right, Mbappe received Michael Olise’s pass, took one touch to his left and unleashed a powerful strike from the edge of the penalty area.
The delay could have served as a recovery period for Iraq, but instead they gifted France a second goal on a dreadful mistake from a goal kick. Dembele was the provider for Mbappe’s tap-in, then scored himself 12 minutes later.
With the outcome never in doubt, the weather provided the drama. After referee Drew Fischer blew his half-time whistle as storms were already beginning, spectators were told to seek shelter. Players finally re-emerged for warm-ups about 1 hour and 40 minutes later, with further delay as water was cleared from the pitch.
Source: www.aljazeera.com