Kylian Mbappe continued his brilliant form with his second brace of the tournament, leading France to a 3-0 win over Iraq in the first World Cup match affected by inclement weather.
The match at Philadelphia Stadium was halted for nearly two hours due to a thunderstorm in the area, pushing the second half well past its scheduled start. Mbappe's two goals were separated by almost three hours because of the delay.
With his two strikes, Mbappe raised his World Cup career tally to 16, equaling the previous record held by Miroslav Klose. Earlier on the same day, Lionel Messi set a new benchmark with 18 goals after scoring a brace in Argentina's 2-0 victory over Austria.
Mbappe's four goals in this edition also leave him just one behind Messi in the race for the 2026 Golden Boot.
Ousmane Dembele, the recent Ballon d'Or winner, also scored in the second half for France (2-0-0, 6 points), who are all but assured of advancing. France will officially secure their spot in the round of 32 if Norway beats or draws Senegal in the same Group I match later, taking place in New Jersey.
Iraq (0-2-0, 0 points) still have a chance to claim one of the eight third-place berths. They may need to beat Senegal in their final match and await results from other groups. The team also might lose striker Aymen Hussein, their only goal scorer in the tournament, after he left the pitch with an injury in the 26th minute.
France controlled proceedings from the outset. Mbappe opened the scoring in the 14th minute after a pass from Michael Olise. He collected the ball on the right flank, took a touch, and fired a powerful shot from the edge of the box, beating goalkeeper Ahmed Basil.
The long break may have helped Iraq recover, but they committed a serious error from a goal kick, allowing Mbappe to score his second. Dembele set up Mbappe for the goal, and 12 minutes later, Dembele himself sealed the 3-0 scoreline with a sharp assist from Olise into the box.
Weather became a major talking point as referee Drew Fischer blew the halftime whistle just as the storm began. Spectators were advised to seek shelter in the stadium concourses. Players only returned to warm up after about 1 hour 40 minutes, and the match was further delayed as ground staff used squeegees to clear standing water.
