France's forward Kylian Mbappe celebrated his 100th match by scoring twice as France defeated Iraq 3-0 in the 2026 World Cup Group I football match at the Philadelphia Stadium on June 22, 2026. A severe storm delayed the game by two hours.
Mbappe scored the first goal in the 14th minute and added another nine minutes into the second half. Ousmane Dembele, last year’s Ballon d’Or winner, scored the third goal for France, who are favorites to win the tournament.
With this match, Mbappe now has 16 World Cup goals. He is just two goals behind Lionel Messi, who set a new record of 18 goals after scoring twice for Argentina against Austria earlier on Monday.
The match began at 5:00 pm local time (2100 GMT) but was halted at half-time due to the storm. The rain began late in the first half, forcing supporters to leave their seats and find shelter.
The Lincoln Financial Field, which holds 68,324 fans, has a large uncovered area. Most fans had to squeeze into the concourses to stay dry. The second half finally started over two hours late, marking the first match of this World Cup to be interrupted by bad weather.
In the United States, strict rules say a game must stop if there is a storm nearby. Mbappe’s goals keep coming at this World Cup, following his two goals in France’s opening 3-1 win over Senegal last Tuesday.
The 27-year-old Real Madrid star and France captain has now become his country’s all-time top scorer. He surpassed Olivier Giroud’s previous record of 57 goals. Mbappe now has 60 goals for Les Bleus after 100 appearances, with 16 of those goals coming in World Cup matches.
He is now tied with Germany’s Miroslav Klose on the all-time World Cup goals list. Mbappe has also surpassed the 15 goals scored by Brazilian legend Ronaldo. It looks like he will be in a shoot-out with Messi for more goals in this World Cup.
Next, Mbappe and France will face Erling Haaland’s Norway in Boston on Friday. France has already secured a spot in the last 32 after winning both of their games in Group I.
On the other hand, Iraq faces the risk of elimination after this defeat. They lost their opening game to Norway 4-1 and have now lost all five of their matches in two World Cups, 40 years apart.
France made three changes from their opening match. Bradley Barcola replaced Desire Doue on the left wing, Manu Kone took Aurelien Tchouameni’s place in midfield, and Lucas Digne started over Theo Hernandez at left-back.
Mbappe scored the first goal before 15 minutes had passed. He controlled a pass with his right foot and shot from 20 meters, beating Iraq's goalkeeper Ahmed Basil.
Iraq lost their captain and striker Aymen Hussein in the 26th minute due to injury. The storm created a strange atmosphere as the players waited in the dressing room while fans got soaked.
When the game resumed, Iraq struggled. A mistake led to Mbappe’s second goal in the 54th minute. Defender Zaid Tahseen’s goal-kick went wrong, allowing Dembele to assist Mbappe for an easy finish.
Michael Olise then hit the crossbar with a delicate chip before Dembele scored the third goal in the 66th minute, making it 3-0.
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