PHILADELPHIA: Kylian Mbappé starred with a brilliant brace as France defeated Iraq 3-0 in a weather-disrupted FIFA World Cup encounter to book their place in the knockout stage.
The match at Philadelphia was interrupted for nearly two hours due to heavy rain and lightning, forcing officials to suspend play at halftime. Despite the lengthy delay, France remained in complete control and sealed a convincing victory through goals from Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé.
France opened the scoring in the 14th minute when Mbappé produced a moment of individual brilliance. The French captain unleashed a powerful left-footed strike from outside the penalty area, beating Iraq goalkeeper Ahmed Basil with a spectacular effort that flew into the net.
The former world champions dominated possession and created several chances during the opening half but were unable to add to their lead before the weather intervened. Iraq focused largely on defending and went into the break trailing by a single goal.
Following the suspension, play resumed nearly two hours later, and France quickly tightened their grip on the contest. Mbappé doubled the lead in the 54th minute after capitalising on a defensive error inside the Iraqi box. A misplaced pass and confusion in defence allowed Dembélé to set up the French skipper, who calmly finished from close range.
France effectively ended the contest in the 66th minute when Dembélé got on the scoresheet. The winger finished off a well-worked move to make it 3-0 and put the result beyond doubt.
Mbappé’s two-goal performance further strengthened his remarkable World Cup record and moved him closer to some of the tournament’s greatest scoring achievements. His latest heroics came just hours after Lionel Messi reportedly added another milestone to his own World Cup tally, fuelling discussion about the race between two of football’s biggest stars.
With the win, France comfortably advanced to the knockout rounds and reinforced their status as one of the favourites for the title, while Iraq’s hopes suffered a major setback after a disappointing defeat.
