Mbappe Double Fires France Past Iraq in Storm-Hit World Cup Clash

France beat Iraq 3-0 in Philadelphia on Tiesday morning in a 2026 World Cup group game that had to be paused for over two hours after lightning struck near the stadium. 

Kylian Mbappe scored twice, taking his World Cup tally to 16 goals and pulling level with Miroslav Klose in second place on the all-time list, behind only Lionel Messi who had broken Klose's record earlier in the day.

Mbappe opened the scoring in the 14th minute, driving a left-footed shot into the far corner from outside the box. After the weather delay pushed the restart back more than two hours, France came out and quickly added a second. 

Iraq goalkeeper Ahmed Basil fumbled a short goal-kick from his own defender, and Ousmane Dembele set Mbappe up for a straightforward finish.

Dembele then got on the scoresheet himself, curling a shot into the bottom corner from a smart pass by Michael Olise. It was the winger's first goal for France at a major tournament across 20 appearances for the national team.

The game was the first at this World Cup to be stopped due to bad weather. Heavy rain had already slowed entry into Philadelphia Stadium before kickoff, though the match started on schedule.

France were in control for most of the 90 minutes. Iraq lost captain and striker Aymen Hussein to injury in the first half and rarely threatened, though they did create a couple of chances late on. Rebin Sulaka volleyed over from a corner, and Ali Al Hamadi could not reach a cross from Marko Farji.

Mbappe almost completed a hat-trick near the final whistle but sent his shot high and wide.

Olise was one of the standouts for France, contributing two assists to bring his total to six goal involvements across his last three games for the national team.

France have qualified for the round of 32 after topping Group I with six points from two games. They wrap up their group stage campaign against Norway on Friday, with Iraq taking on Senegal at the same time. 

Iraq are bottom of the group with no points and need a win to stay in the tournament.