Kylian Mbappe scored twice and Ousmane Dembele added another goal as France cruised to a 3-0 win over Iraq on Monday, securing their place in the World Cup round of 32.
The match was notable not only for France’s dominance but also for a lengthy weather delay. Severe thunderstorms forced the second half to start nearly two hours late, meaning Mbappe’s two goals came almost three hours apart.
Playing his 100th match for France, Mbappe once again delivered on the big stage. His brace took his World Cup tally to 16 goals, drawing level with former Germany striker Miroslav Klose. Earlier in the day, Lionel Messi had moved ahead with 18 goals after scoring twice in Argentina’s win over Austria.
Mbappe’s four goals at the tournament also leave him just one behind Messi in the race for the Golden Boot.
Dembele, the reigning Ballon d’Or winner, also got on the scoresheet after facing criticism for his display in France’s opening 3-1 win over Senegal.
France now sit level on three points with Norway, who defeated Senegal 3-2 earlier in the day. The two sides will meet on Saturday with top spot in Group I at stake.
Iraq, meanwhile, still have a chance of progressing as one of the best third-placed teams. However, they need a win over Senegal in their final group match and favourable results elsewhere.
Their hopes were dealt a blow when striker Aymen Hussein, who scored in the opening defeat to Norway, left the field injured after just 26 minutes.
France took control early and opened the scoring in the 14th minute. Mbappe collected a pass from Michael Olise, shifted the ball onto his left foot and unleashed a powerful shot from outside the box that flew past goalkeeper Ahmed Basil.
The weather delay did little to help Iraq. Shortly after play resumed, a costly mistake gifted France a second goal. Goalkeeper Basil failed to deal with a short pass from defender Zaid Tahseen, allowing Dembele to set up Mbappe for an easy finish in the 54th minute.
Dembele then got a goal of his own 12 minutes later, controlling another excellent pass from Olise before calmly finishing past Basil.
With France comfortably in control, most of the drama came from the weather rather than the football. Storms intensified during half-time, forcing fans to take shelter inside the stadium. Players eventually returned to warm up around one hour and 40 minutes later, while ground staff worked to clear standing water from the pitch before the match could restart.
Once play resumed, France comfortably saw out the game to secure their place in the knockout rounds.
