Kylian Mbappe scored a brace and was joined on the scoresheet by Ousmane Dembele as France cruised to victory over Iraq. Mbappe’s first-half strike gave France the lead at half-time, when the match was turned on its head by a lengthy weather delay. Storms in the vicinity of the Philadelphia Stadium took nearly two hours to shift, and the match was suspended for quite some time.
France hardly skipped a beat after reemerging from the dressing room, with Mbappe promptly bagging his second of the day before Dembele got in the action, lashing a smart shot across the face of goal and in to qualify Les Bleus for the next stage of the competition.
Mbappe came into this match hoping to break Miroslav Klose’s World Cup goalscoring record, but Lionel Messi has pipped him to the punch by scoring the opener in Argentina vs Austria. His brace, however, leaves him within two strikes of the great man in a battle which will surely rage on for the remainder of this tournament. Catch up with the action live as it happened below with Standard Sport’s dedicated match blog, complete with expert insight and analysis.
France vs Iraq latest news
GOAL! Dembele adds another GOAL! Fadhil howler punished by Mbappe Match suspended due to adverse weather GOAL! Mbappe hits fine openerLive updates
FULL-TIME: France 3-0 Iraq
That does it! A routine win for France.
France 3-0 Iraq
90mins: Mbappe fluffs another chance to complete his hat-trick, and is duly hooked.
France 3-0 Iraq
88mins: Around the grounds, Norway have taken the lead against Senegal through Marcus Holmgren Pedersen.
France 3-0 Iraq
83mins: Two more changes for France as Chelsea’s Malo Gusto replaces Lucas Digne, and Bradley Barcola comes off for Maghnes Akliouche.
France 3-0 Iraq
82mins: Barcola races into the box with the ball at his feet, but the final pass leaves a little to be desired. He wins a corner, which is taken short and comes to nothing.
France 3-0 Iraq
80mins: UNLUCKY! Mbappe races onto a chipped ball into the area and shoots just wide.
He’s seen Messi’s heroics earlier in the day, and he wants his hat trick!
France 3-0 Iraq
76mins: CLOSE! Al Hamadi threatens a goal. He gets the better of Saliba to meet a perfectly-placed cross from Marko Lawk Farji, but can’t quite get it on target as he slides to meet the ball at the back post.
France 3-0 Iraq
74mins: Sulaka finds himself in space from the corner and gets a shot off, but cannot keep it down.
France 3-0 Iraq
73mins: Iraq have a rare corner here. Can they make it count?
France 3-0 Iraq
And for France, Doue and Cherki replace Dembele and Olise. You have to feel for Iraq, seeing those numbers go up.
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