Kylian Mbappé scores 2 goals to lead France to 3-0 win over Iraq and into World Cup knockout stage
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kylian Mbappé scored twice to move into a tie for second in career World Cup goals with 16, and France played through the tournament's first rain delay to beat Iraq 3-0 on Monday and advance to the knockout stage.
Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé also scored for Les Bleus, giving fans who stuck out a rainy night in Philadelphia a reason to cut loose.
Mbappé scored in the 14th and 54th minutes to cap a momentous and soggy 100th international appearance for one of the best players in the world.
Mbappe's first goal gave France a 1-0 lead at halftime, when heavy rain and an incoming thunderstorm prompted a delay of just over two hours and forced the grounds crew to squeegee water off the swampy Kentucky bluegrass at Lincoln Financial Field.
Scoreboard messages directed the crowd to take shelter in the stadium’s covered areas, warning that a severe storm was on the way. Sheets of rain continued to fall through halftime as fans wrapped themselves in ponchos and huddled in the concourse and under balconies.
Iraq coach Graham Arnold wrestled with a poncho for a few seconds before he pulled it over his head and returned to the covered dugout. French fans who stayed in their seats in the last few covered rows of the top of the stadium waved the country’s flag, and many splashed around the concourse to pass time.
Others fled for the exits — at the same stadium where last season's opener for the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles was delayed 65 minutes in the third quarter because of lightning — as the delay dragged on, giving overseas spectators a triple dose of American sports nuisances: rain delays, overpriced concessions and TV timeouts in the form of hydration breaks. There was no second-half hydration break in this game after the long, wet pause in the action.
Weather aside, this game — as so many do for France — belonged to Mbappé as he tries to keep pace on the career goals list with new record holder Lionel Messi.
Playing in his third World Cup, the 27-year-old Mbappé matched Miroslav Klose of Germany on the goals list and moved one ahead of Brazil great Ronaldo.
Messi scored twice for Argentina earlier Monday to set the tournament record at 18. He had equaled Klose with his first World Cup hat trick in Argentina’s 3-0 win over Algeria last Tuesday night in Kansas City, Missouri.
Mbappé scored his third goal of the tournament with a left-footed strike — his supposed weaker foot — from the edge of the box that got past Iraq goalkeeper Ahmed Basil, who got his first start in the tournament after captain Jalal Hassan allowed all four goals in Iraq’s 4-1 loss to Norway.
For his second goal, Mbappé took advantage of a poor pass to the goalkeeper by Iraq defender Zaid Tahseen. Dembele controlled the loose ball and passed to Mbappé, who tapped it in with his right foot.
Mbappé had a chance at the hat trick on a late breakaway, but missed before he was subbed out at the 90-minute mark.
Mbappé helped France win the World Cup in 2018 and reach the final in 2022, when he was awarded the Silver Ball as the second-best player. Joined up front by Désiré Doué and Dembélé, France entered this year’s tournament as a co-favorite with Spain.
France could return to Philadelphia to play Germany on July 4.
Iraq striker Aymen Hussein was subbed out with an apparent injury in the 26th minute of the first half and replaced by Ali Al-Hamadi. Hussein scored his 34th international goal in Iraq’s World Cup opener.
Iraq is playing in the World Cup for just the second time after debuting in 1986.
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