▲ France's Kylian Mbappe, who reached his 16th career World Cup goal
Kylian Mbappe marked his 100th international appearance by scoring his 16th career World Cup goal, leading France to the Round of 32.
France defeated Iraq 3-0 in their second Group I match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup at Philadelphia Stadium in Pennsylvania, USA.
Having previously beaten Senegal 3-1 in their opening match, France secured two consecutive wins to top Group I with six points.
Regardless of the outcome of their final group match against Norway on June 27, France has secured a top-two finish in the group, confirming their spot in the Round of 32.
Scoring a brace, Mbappe increased his career World Cup tally to 16 goals, surpassing Brazil's Ronaldo (15 goals) for third place all-time and drawing level with Germany's Miroslav Klose.
The all-time leading World Cup goalscorer is Argentina's Lionel Messi, who scored twice in his second group match against Austria on the same day, bringing his total to 18 goals.
After scoring four goals at the 2018 Russia World Cup and eight at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, Mbappe has already netted four goals in this tournament.
Mbappe's brace has also heated up the race for the tournament's Golden Boot.
Currently, Messi leads the scoring charts with five goals, closely followed by Mbappe with four.
Meanwhile, Iraq faces a high likelihood of group-stage elimination after suffering two consecutive losses.
Even if they defeat Senegal in their final match on June 27, they will have to rely on other results to advance.
Deploying a 4-2-3-1 formation, France dominated the first half, with Mbappe leading the attack as the lone striker.
Just two minutes into the match, Mbappe broke down the left flank and delivered a low cross. Manu Kone fired a left-footed shot off the loose ball, but it went wide of the target.
In the eighth minute, Mbappe attempted a right-footed shot from a loose ball inside the penalty area, but his effort went well wide.
In the 14th minute, Mbappe received a pass from Michael Olise and unleashed a powerful left-footed strike from outside the penalty box to open the scoring.
Iraq had an opportunity in the 28th minute.
Ali Al-Hamadi connected with a header from Merchas Doski's cross from the left, but it missed the target.
In the 42nd minute, France had a chance to double their lead when Mbappe used his individual skills to bypass the Iraqi defense inside the penalty box.
However, Iraq's Hussein Ali made a sliding tackle to prevent him from getting a shot off.
France's onslaught continued in the second half, while Iraq struggled, managing only two shots.
In the 54th minute, Mbappe scored his 16th career World Cup goal.
Capitalizing on a defensive error by Iraq, Ousmane Dembele intercepted the ball inside the penalty area and passed it to Mbappe, who finished with his right foot.
In the 66th minute, Dembele, who had assisted Mbappe's goal, scored his first-ever World Cup goal.
Receiving a through ball from Olise, Dembele slotted a right-footed shot into the bottom-left corner to make it 3-0.
In the 76th minute, Iraq had a chance to pull one back when Ali Al-Hamadi met a cross from the left with his right foot, but the ball went slightly wide of the post.
In the 90th minute, Mbappe intercepted a poor pass from the Iraqi defense and went for a hat-trick, but his shot sailed over the crossbar.
Meanwhile, the match was suspended for 2 hours and 10 minutes, including the 15-minute halftime break, due to severe weather after France ended the first half with a 1-0 lead.
The suspension was prompted by heavy rain, thunderstorms, and detected lightning hazards.
According to FIFA regulations, play is suspended for 30 minutes if lightning is detected within a radius of approximately 13 kilometers (8 miles) of the stadium.
The suspension time is reset each time lightning is detected again.
This marks the first time a match has been temporarily suspended due to weather in this World Cup.
The match was suspended at around 6:50 a.m. KST and resumed at 9:00 a.m. KST.
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.