Philadelphia, USA – The French national team officially secured its place in the round of 32 of the 2026 World Cup, after defeating its Iraqi counterpart by three goals to nil, in a match that extended for many hours due to the forced stoppage caused by bad weather conditions.
The match was held at Philadelphia Stadium, and witnessed an exceptional stoppage between the two halves of the match after a thunderstorm passed near the stadium, which led to the postponement of the start of the second half for more than two hours before the match resumed.
The French team imposed their superiority from the first minutes, and succeeded in opening the scoring early through their captain Kylian Mbappe in the 13th minute, after he launched a powerful shot that settled in the Iraqi goalkeeper’s net.
As play resumed in the second half, “The Roosters” continued to dominate the game, with Mbappe doubling the score in the 54th minute, taking advantage of a gift from the Iraqi defense, after an effort by Ousmane Dembele who won the ball and passed it to the French captain to put it in the net.
The French team did not stop there, as Ousmane Dembele added the third goal in the 67th minute with a well-placed ground shot from inside the penalty area, confirming his country’s superiority.
The Iraqi team tried to reduce the gap in the remaining minutes, but the French defense succeeded in keeping a clean sheet, and the match ended with a well-deserved victory for France with a clean sheet of three goals.
With this victory, the French national team raised its tally to 6 points at the top of the group, thus securing qualification for the round of 32, while Iraq remained without points at the bottom of the standings, officially bidding farewell to the tournament.
The French team had started their campaign in the tournament with a 3-1 victory over Senegal, while Iraq suffered their first defeat against Norway with a score of 4-1 before suffering their second defeat against France.
