Mbappé scores twice on 100th cap as France end Iraq's World Cup

Mbappé on his 100th cap, Iraq out

France 3–0 Iraq on Monday, and your World Cup ends here. Kylian Mbappé scored twice on his 100th international appearance, Ousmane Dembélé added the third, and France marched into the knockout rounds (1) (3) (7). Mbappé opened the scoring early, and the gap was simply too wide on the night (8). Iraq go home after the group stage, but being here at all, 40 years later, is not something anyone can take away.

Two hours in a storm, and then it was over

The match was suspended for two hours at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia because of thunderstorms and lightning (2) (4) (12). Players from both sides sat in the tunnel, waited, tried to stay loose. BBC called it "mentally draining" (2). When play resumed, France picked up where they left off. The storm delayed the inevitable, not the outcome (4) (5).

Fan reactions

Iraqi supporters online were realistic about the result but proud of the journey. The two-hour storm delay became the bigger talking point, with fans sharing clips of lightning over the stadium and the surreal scene of both teams waiting in the tunnel. One Reddit thread captured the mood. The consensus: nobody expected a win against France, but this team earned every minute on the World Cup stage.