Kylian Mbappé scored the first two goals for France, and Ousmane Dembele added another in a 3-0 victory over Iraq.
Published June 23, 2026
Kylian Mbappé scored his second brace of the tournament as France defeated Iraq 3-0 in their first match of the World Cup, which suffered from an extended weather break.
Mbappe’s goal was nearly three hours away, as second-half kick-off was delayed by just under two hours due to thunderstorms in the area on Monday.
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This increases his total World Cup total to 16, leveling him with former record holder Miroslav Klose. Earlier on Monday, Lionel Messi set a new standard with his two goals in Argentina’s 2-0 win over Austria, taking his total to 18 World Cup goals.
Mbappe’s four goals put him one point behind Messi in the 2026 Golden Boot race.
Current Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele also scored after half-time to give two-time champions France (2-0-0, six points) six points. France is almost certain to advance.
If Norway wins or draws against Senegal in the other games in Group I, the final 32 will be officially decided. The game, held in northern New Jersey about a two-hour drive away, kicked off at Philadelphia Stadium almost at the start of the long-awaited second half.
Iraq (0-2-0, 0 points) remains in one of eight knockout spots allocated to third-place teams.
They will probably need to win the final group game against Senegal and get help elsewhere. And they could have been without Aymen Hussein, who scored the tournament’s only goal in the opening game, but was forced off with an apparent injury in the 26th minute on Monday.
France dominated the early stages, with Mbappé scoring in the 14th minute.
Making an innocent move on the right, Mbappé received a pass from Michael Oliseh, took a single touch to his left, gave the Iraqi defender space and fired a powerful shot from the edge of the penalty area past the dive of Ahmed Bashir.
The delay could have been a recovery period for Iraq, who spent much of the game chasing the ball. Instead, they gave France and Mbappé their second goal with a horrible mistake from a goal kick.
Dembele was the provider for Mbappé’s tap-in. Twelve minutes later, he controlled a sharp pass from Oliseh 18 yards into the box and slotted low past Basil.
The result was never in doubt and the weather added drama.
Because the storm had already begun, the skies opened up even more after referee Drew Fisher blew the halftime whistle and spectators were told to take shelter in the stadium’s concourses.
The players finally reappeared to warm up about an hour and 40 minutes later, but the restart was further delayed as stadium staff used squeegees to remove water that had accumulated on the east side of the pitch.
