Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring twice for France against Iraq at the World Cup.
Kylian Mbappe celebrated his 100th appearance for France by scoring twice in a 3-0 victory over Iraq on Monday. However, severe weather delayed the match for more than two hours in Philadelphia.
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Mbappe opened the scoring in the 14th minute. Later, he added his second goal nine minutes into the second half. Meanwhile, last year’s Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele scored France’s third goal as the tournament favourites maintained their winning start.
As a result, Mbappe moved to 16 career World Cup goals. He now sits only two goals behind Lionel Messi, who reached a record total of 18 after scoring twice for Argentina against Austria earlier on Monday.
The match began at 5:00 pm local time but faced disruption at half-time after a major storm swept across Philadelphia.
Initially, conditions remained dry. However, heavy rain arrived late in the first half and forced officials to suspend play. Spectators were instructed to leave open seating areas and move into covered sections of the stadium.
Because most of Lincoln Financial Field remains uncovered, large numbers of supporters gathered in the concourses to wait out the storm.
Eventually, the second half resumed more than two hours later. Notably, this became the first weather-delayed match of the tournament. Strict weather protocols in the United States require games to stop when storms develop nearby.
Meanwhile, Mbappe continued his outstanding World Cup form. His latest brace followed another two-goal performance in France’s opening 3-1 win over Senegal.
The 27-year-old Real Madrid forward and France captain recently became his country’s all-time leading scorer. He surpassed Olivier Giroud’s previous record of 57 goals and has now reached 60 goals in 100 appearances.
In addition, Mbappe has scored 16 World Cup goals in only 16 matches. Consequently, he has drawn level with Germany’s Miroslav Klose and moved ahead of Brazilian legend Ronaldo on the all-time scoring list.
Attention now turns to a potential race with Messi for this year’s World Cup scoring record.
France will next face Norway in Boston on Friday. Meanwhile, the 2022 runners-up have already secured a place in the last 32 after recording two wins in Group I.
By contrast, Iraq moved closer to elimination. The defeat followed their opening 4-1 loss to Norway and extended their World Cup record to five defeats from five matches across two appearances.
France made three changes to the starting line-up. Bradley Barcola replaced Desire Doue, Manu Kone came into midfield, and Lucas Digne started at left-back.
Mbappe opened the scoring with an impressive strike from 20 metres after controlling a pass with his right foot. Shortly afterwards, Iraq suffered another setback when captain Aymen Hussein left the pitch injured.
After the delay, Iraq struggled to regain control. On 54 minutes, defensive confusion allowed Dembele to set up Mbappe for an easy finish.
Soon after, Michael Olise struck the crossbar with a chipped effort. Then Dembele completed the scoring on 66 minutes after receiving another well-worked assist.
