France overcame a weather delay of more than two hours to dismantle Iraq in Philadelphia, with Kylian Mbappé scoring twice to close the gap on Lionel Messi in the World Cup’s all-time scoring charts.
Pre-tournament fears that storms could wreak havoc on the competition’s schedule were realised at Lincoln Financial Field, where heavy rain began to fall towards the end of the first half.
With France leading 1-0 at the break, supporters were urged to take shelter due to the incoming storm. It then took more than two hours for conditions to be deemed safe enough for the game to resume.
The delay did little to destabilise France and Mbappé, though. On his 100th appearance for his country, Mbappé opened the scoring with a thunderous left-footed strike in the 14th minute.
The Real Madrid striker then added another goal shortly after the match restarted, when a mix-up in the Iraq defence resulted in him being gifted a simple tap-in.
Mbappé’s goals came after Messi, his former team-mate at Paris St-Germain, had scored twice in Argentina‘s 2-0 win over Austria in Dallas. Those goals were Messi’s 17th and 18th in the World Cup, which made him the record goalscorer in the competition.
Mbappé is evidently keen to chase down Messi in the all-time scoring charts, with his strikes against Iraq taking him to 16 overall. At 27, Mbappé is 11 years younger than Messi.
Also on the scoresheet for France was PSG forward Ousmane Dembélé, who produced an accurate finish after a fabulous pass by fellow attacker Michael Olise. Using the outside of his left foot, Olise sliced open the Iraq defence in the 66th minute.
The strict weather protocols in the United States are not controlled by Fifa, but by local authorities. The recommendation from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is that matches must be paused if a lightning strike is detected within eight miles of a stadium.
The vast majority of the supporters who had bought tickets for the match chose to remain at Lincoln Financial Field during the delay.
Despite the best efforts of groundstaff in Philadelphia, the second half kicked off with plenty of water on the playing surface. The second ‘hydration break’, which has been one of the more controversial features of this tournament, was abandoned on this occasion.
Iraq had finished the second half relatively strongly and were keeping the French attackers quiet, but they were unable to replicate this form after the lengthy delay. An indication of the physical challenges posed by the delay could be seen when Iraq’s substitute striker, the Ipswich Town forward Ali Al-Hamadi, appeared to suffer from cramp in the 75th minute.
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