PHILADELPHIA – It’s not often a superstar can score goals more than two hours apart in a single match. It’s just another accomplishment for Kylian Mbappe. France’s superstar is increasingly inevitable as he scored a brace to lead France to a 3-0 victory over Iraq after a delay in the match of more than two hours due to stormy weather and lightning in the area. For the first time during a World Cup match, FIFA had to enact its weather protocol for lightning in the area as the match went to halftime and then didn’t resume for two hours and eleven minutes after the players got time to warm up.
During the delay, fans had to leave the stadium bowl and take cover in the concourse, but spirits were high with “Oles” ringing out in the rain and a show of cheers when the players came back to the pitch to warm up. Due to the amount of rain, squeegees had to be used to help clear puddles on the pitch, but once the water was gone, France were able to get back to what they began in the first half, handling business to qualify for the round of 32 and put themselves in a position to win the group in a critical match facing Norway in Boston on June 26. Thanks to goal difference, a win or draw will secure first place in Group I for France after Norway conceded a stoppage-time goal to Senegal that could prove to be crucial.
From the moment La Marseillaise rang out around the stadium, France were off and running. Mbappe almost scored within 2 minutes, but he wouldn’t leave anyone waiting for long with a left-footed belter from outside the box to put France ahead in the 14th minute of play. It was always written that Mbappe would mark his 100th cap for the national team with a goal, and even if Iraq manager Graham Arnold got to start three keepers like he joked about before the match, it still may not have been enough to stop Mbappe’s wrist-breaking shot.
France are among the contenders to win the World Cup, and after the match, Iraqi defender Rebin Sulaka summed up the performance that he saw succinctly, saying, “They are good, France were really good.”
After the delay, Mbappe was able to get a second goal as Ousmane Dembele set him up before scoring one of his own after struggling in the opening match against Senegal. If the front three are clicking, and Michael Olise also had an assist during the match as well, then this team will be a force to be reckoned with as they’re among the favorites to win the World Cup.
Following the match, players said that the weather delay wasn’t much of an impact, and the biggest issue was figuring out what to do during the break. But given that they had time to warm up after the break, it was similar to another kickoff as opposed to if they had stopped play during the half. And France had the additional benefit of no hydration break in the second half due to the delay to keep their pressure up.
“Of course, the weather impacted the players, but I think in the long run, if we see how we went out in the second half from the halftime, we played really good after the break, so I don’t think it impacted us as much as you think,” Sulaka said. “We tried to stay focused and correct our mistakes from the first half, and go out and do better in the second half, so that was what the coach said to us in between the halves”
France were in agreement with that assessment.
“Think that’s out of our control, so we need to adapt, and I think we did that really well,” Jules Kounde said.
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Looking at the momentum chart from the match, if anything, France’s dominance before the break wasn’t rewarded properly, but they were able to settle and truly impose their will in the second half while getting a much-needed strong performance out of their front four ahead of facing Norway. It’s momentum that can be carried to Boston, but with Senegal losing, Iraq have a chance too, as this group of death will go down to the final day.
