Mbappé brace and Dembélé goal sink Iraq 3-0 as France qualify despite storm delay
France qualified for the knockouts with a commanding 3-0 win over Iraq in Philadelphia, with Kylian Mbappé scoring twice and Ousmane Dembélé adding a third in a match delayed over two hours by thunderstorms.
A violent thunderstorm in Philadelphia forced a two-hour delay, but when France finally took the field at Lincoln Financial Field they made up for lost time immediately. Mbappé opened the scoring in the 14th minute with a ferocious left-footed strike from outside the box after a clever pull-back from Michael Olise.
His second came when Iraq goalkeeper Zaid Tahseen made a disastrous pass-back error; Dembélé read the situation, controlled the stray ball and squared it to Mbappé, who tapped home. Dembélé then grabbed his first ever World Cup goal by firing into the bottom-left corner from another Olise assist.
Mbappé celebrated his 100th France cap with a brace, taking his career World Cup tally to 16 goals. France top their group and are through to the Round of 32 with one match to spare.
