France underlined their credentials as World Cup favourites with an emphatic 3-0 victory over Iraq in Philadelphia, a contest interrupted for two hours by severe storms and illuminated by another two-goal display from Kylian Mbappe.
Mbappe’s double carried him beyond Gerd Muller and Ronaldo on the all-time World Cup scoring chart. The France captain has now drawn level with Miroslav Klose on 16 goals, with only Lionel Messi, on 18, remaining ahead of him.
His first arrived in the 14th minute, when he gathered possession on the edge of the box before unleashing a rising strike through an opponent’s legs. Iraq goalkeeper Ahmed Basila managed to get fingertips to the effort, but not enough to prevent it from finding the net.
The fixture became the first World Cup match to be disrupted by a weather delay. Shortly after the teams left the pitch at half-time, supporters were instructed to clear the stands at Lincoln Financial Field because of lightning in the area. The danger, along with heavy rain, persisted for more than two hours.
Once play eventually restarted, Mbappe quickly picked up the thread. Ten minutes into the second half, Iraq unravelled in calamitous fashion. Ahmed Qasem badly overhit a goal kick toward Ahmed Basila, who was stationed only a few yards away to his left. Basila failed to bring it under control, allowing the ball to run to Ousmane Dembele on the edge of the six-yard area. Dembele calmly rolled it across for Mbappe to force over the line, completing the tournament’s most glaring mistake so far.
France were polished throughout. Michael Olise almost added a spectacular goal when his delicate chip over Basila thudded against the face of the crossbar. Moments later, Olise slipped a clever pass into Dembele on the right side of the penalty area, and the winger drove a finish across the goalkeeper to make it three.
Kylian Mbappe struck twice as France completed a 3-0 win over Iraq following a lengthy weather stoppage
Ousmane Dembele (left) added France’s third goal during Monday’s uninterrupted second half
Whatever Messi can do, Mbappe can do
We have to talk about Mbappe. The France captain was utterly mesmerising against Iraq. He looks ridiculously sharp and hungry. He bristled with intent every time he got the ball. His movement was like quicksilver. His ambition was unrestrained.
In the first half alone, he scored, missed narrowly with a chip from 45 yards and beguiled the Iraq defence with a drag-back turn in the box that nearly made the opening for a second goal.
Another goal early in the second half took him on to 16 goals at World Cups. He is still only 27 years old. For all the deserved adulation lavished on Messi, when Mbappe is in this kind of form, he looks like the best player in the world.
It has taken him 16 games to score 16 goals in World Cups. Ronaldo needed 18. Klose, 23, and Messi, 27. If he continues in this vein, France are going to be very hard to beat.
It’s not always sunny in Philadelphia
Another kind of history was made. France-Iraq became the first World Cup match to be suspended because of the weather. The players went off for half time as normal but did not return for 2 hours and 11 minutes as storms and torrential rain descended on the Philadelphia metropolitan area.
US protocols mean that play cannot resume for at least half an hour after evidence of lightning strikes is detected within eight miles of the ground. Fans were evacuated from the seats at Lincoln Financial Field and asked to retreat to the concourses.
The players took shelter in their changing rooms. The skyscrapers of downtown Philadelphia faded in and out of the murk in the distance. The delay asked questions about quite how the players were supposed to maintain peak condition after 45 minutes of intense bursts of energy followed by a two hour delay and then another 45 minutes of intensity. The crowd stayed remarkably upbeat and danced in the rain. Eventually, the players were cleared to return.
France’s group clash with Iraq was delayed by two hours and 11 minutes thanks to storms
A succulent sub-plot
The greatest prize is the World Cup itself but the race for the Golden Boot is already more compelling during this tournament than it has ever been before. It is the most delicious sub-plot.
In an age where many fans follow individuals rather than teams, it has, for some, taken on the same level of obsession as the battle for the trophy itself. At times on Monday, it felt as if we were living in a replay of the battle between Messi and Mbappe in the 2022 World Cup Final when Mbappe scored a hat-trick against Argentina and still finished on the losing side.
Messi scored twice against Austria earlier in the day to move past Klose as the all-time leading scorer in the tournament with 18 goals. Mbappe refused to be upstaged and scored two himself. Both men are redrawing the boundaries of goalscoring greatness.
The rain has one advantage
There was one unintended benefit of the two-hour weather suspension of the game: in the second half, we were spared the hydration break that has become one of the symbols of FIFA’s willingness to reshape the game for money.
The hydration break is an advertising break and nothing more but because of the delay in Philadelphia, and because it had poured with rain for much of the past three hours, it was abandoned.
If there is an element of discretion involved, it begs the question why the break is not ignored when conditions are cooler or when matches are played under a roof. We all know the answer to that question.
