Mbappe close to Messi’s record with double goal, France in knockout

Sports Desk

Kylian Mbappe scored two more World Cup goals in his 100th international appearance on Monday, moving him closer to Lionel Messi’s record as France comfortably secured a place in the knockout stages with a 3-0 win over Iraq in a match that was delayed by two hours due to heavy rain.

Mbappe opened the scoring for one of the tournament favourites in Philadelphia in the 14th minute and added another nine minutes into the second half, the other goal coming from last year’s Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele.

The brace took Mbappe’s career World Cup goals tally to 16, just two behind Lionel Messi, who set a new record of 18 goals with two for Argentina against Austria on Monday morning.

Messi challenge
Mbappe is now tied with Germany’s Miroslav Klose on the all-time World Cup goalscorer list, who was also the all-time leading scorer at the start of the tournament.
He has surpassed Brazil’s Ronaldo’s record of 15 goals and looks set to face a tough challenge to surpass Messi’s tally at this year’s World Cup.

The 27-year-old Real Madrid superstar and France captain has now scored 60 goals for France in 100 international appearances, 16 of which have come in just 16 World Cup games. He also scored twice in France’s 3-1 win over Senegal on Tuesday. With his goal against Senegal, he surpassed Olivier Giroud’s previous record of 57 goals to become his country’s all-time top scorer.

Long-term weather disruption
The Philadelphia game was scheduled to start at 5 p.m. local time, but a major storm swept through the city, forcing the game to be suspended after the first half.
The game began in dry weather, but heavy rain began to fall late in the first half. As soon as the first-half whistle blew, fans were instructed to “leave the open seating and take shelter in covered areas.” Much of the 68,324-seat Lincoln Financial Field was open—resulting in a large crowd crowding the stadium’s interior corridors.

The second-order match finally started, more than two hours after the scheduled time. This was the first time a match had been postponed due to bad weather in this World Cup. The United States has strict rules that games must be suspended if a storm is detected in the surrounding area.

### The rest of the match and France’s dominance
Mbappe and France’s next match is against Erling Haaland’s Norway in Boston on Friday. However, the 2022 runners-up have already secured their place in the last 32 with two wins from two matches in Group ‘I’. On the other hand, Iraq are now in danger of an early exit after losing 4-1 to Norway in their first match.
France made three changes from the first-leg team. Bradley Barcola replaced Desiree Due on the left wing, Manu Koné replaced Aurelien Choumany in midfield and Lucas Digne was preferred over Theo Hernandez at left-back.
Before the first 15 minutes had passed, Mbappe controlled a pass with his right foot and scored with a shot from 20 metres out, which was impossible for Iraq goalkeeper Ahmed Bassil to stop. Graham Arnold’s side suffered a major setback just 26 minutes into the match when their captain and striker Ayman Hussein had to leave the field with an injury.
The delay in the weather, with a storm raging overhead, created a strange situation. The crowd was soaked and the players were forced to wait in the dressing room.
Iraq collapsed after the restart. A fatal mistake cost Mbappe and France a second goal in the 54th minute. Defender Zayed Tahsin tried to pass a goal-kick to goalkeeper Basile, but he shot too hard and wide. Dembele took the opportunity to pass the ball to Mbappe, who easily finished.
Bayern Munich’s Michael Allis then chipped the ball over the bar with a superb chip. Dembele then scored from the Bayern star’s pass in the 66th minute to make it 3-0.