Key events<\/p>\n
The break could be a long one<\/p>\n
If there\u2019s lightning within eight miles of the ground, there will be a further delay.<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThis additional hydration break,\u201d says Paul Cockburn, \u201cis overkill.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a>HALF-TIME! France 1-0 Iraq (Mbapp\u00e9 14)<\/p>\n The French midfielders knock the ball about as if they just want the half to end, and sure enough it does. Well done Mbapp\u00e9, in his 100th game for France<\/a>, and well done Iraq \u2013 they\u2019re still in the game, even if their final ball has been poor. The award for the best player not called Kylian goes to Ali al-Hamadi, who has made a game of it with his tireless hold-up play.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 45+3 min Another feather in the cap of al-Hamadi, who shrugs off Saliba, but again his team-mates can\u2019t make it count.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 45+1 min The free kick is wasted \u2013 that may need a mention in Arnold\u2019s next team talk. Which willbe soon, as we\u2019re only getting three added minutes.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 45 min Good work again from al-Hamadi, holding the ball up and winning a free kick. I\u2019m not sure the French defenders have met a Tractor Boy before.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 43 min The cameras find some fans, who are young, female and absolutely loving the rain. It\u2019s like Glastonbury in the early 2010s.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 42 min Mbapp\u00e9 threatens again! Pirouetting through the box, untroubled by the rain \u2013 but well stopped by two defenders.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 40 min A shot from somewhere near the halfway line! You\u2019ll never guess who has the audacity to do that. Yes, it\u2019s Mbapp\u00e9, but his magic deserts him as the ball goes over the bar.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 39 min Barcola shimmies through the middle of the Iraqi defence. You might almost stay he storms into it, but his final ball is a bit sloppy and easily cut out.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 38 min Here comes the rain again! Sheeting down, out of a clear grey sky.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 36 min The ref turns a blind eye to a shirt-pull by al-Hamadi on Kone. Maybe his colleagues told him in the break that he had missed one by a French player early on.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 33 min The art form I would invoke for Olise isn\u2019t so much literature, it\u2019s dance. He moves with grace and pace and a sense of space. I bet that he looks good on the dancefloor.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 31 min The corner is overhit, alas. But whatever Graham Arnold said to his team at the break has has some effect.<\/p>\n \u201cTo tune into to watch Michael Olise,\u201d says Kam, \u201cis to summon a relationship between poetry and prose: free-flowing and communal.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 29 min Another Iraq<\/a> attack, and this time they win a corner on the right.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 27 min And al-Hamadi is in the action already. After some nice quick passing, and a cross from Doski on the left, it\u2019s al-Hamadi who jumps highest and gets his head to the ball, but it loops wide.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 25 min Sub! For Iraq<\/a>, who are losing their captain, Aymen Hussein, to what looks like a groin strain. On in his place: our old friend Ali al-Hamadi, of Ipswich, Luton and AFC Wimbledon fame.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a017.28 EDT<\/p>\n 24 min \u201cZizou,\u201d says Peter Oh. \u201cIs it too much to wish for a Zidane winner against France<\/a>?\u201d Ha.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 23 min Hydration break! Yes, they can even do it on a damp Monday night in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 22 min \u201cMany of the neutrals are here for the underdogs as you\u2019d expect,\u201d says one commentator. \u201cNot so sure about that”,\u201d says another, \u201cthey\u2019re here for Mbapp\u00e9.\u201d<\/p>\n America loves a celebrity, and a winner, and so far in this World Cup<\/a>, the few footballers Americans have heard of are scoring most of the goals.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 20 min Graham Arnold\u2019s problem is that Les Bleus are coming in waves. When a through ball to Olise doesn\u2019t come off, you only have to wait half a minute for a gorgeous touch from Barcola. They\u2019re an attacking machine, except that they\u2019re too creative to be machine-like.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 18 min The Iraqis could be forgiven for going into their shell. Instead they go into the French box! Nothing comes of it as Mike Maignan tidies up.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 16 min Mbapp\u00e9 was outside the area, in the inside-right channel, but he hit the ball so hard with his left foot that it was as if it was point-blank. The keeper got there and just couldn\u2019t hold on.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>GOOOOOALLL! France 1-0 Iraq (Mbapp\u00e9 14)<\/p>\n He\u2019s done it again! In his 100th game! With a screamer, on his weaker foot!<\/p>\n France’s Kylian Mbappe scores their first goal. Photograph: Claudia Greco\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a017.32 EDT<\/p>\n 12 min \u201cIraq are being physical with Spain,\u201d one of the commentators said just now. We know what he means. The foul on Mbapp\u00e9 was by al-Ammari, who got an early yellow card for his trouble.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 10 min A slow build-up from France<\/a>, then they come to life as Dembele plays a one-two with Kounde. Nothing doing yet, but it doesn\u2019t feel very far off.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 7 min Foul! On Mbapp\u00e9, as he makes a lightning-fast turn. France<\/a> can\u2019t make the free kick tell, but then Olise, who seems to have started at No 10 this time, floats a lovely ball to Mbapp\u00e9. That brings a corner, a cross, a punch and a shot from Mbapp\u00e9e, curling wide. It\u2019s all happening, already.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 6 min The Iraqis are having plenty of possession. Overawed? Non!<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 3 min An elegant turn from Zidane Iqbal, dropping deep. He starts an attack that might well have brought a free kick, only the ref, Drew Fischer from Canada, didn\u2019t spot a tug of a shirt by Manu Kon\u00e9.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 2 min France<\/a> are in the area already. Lucas Digne reaches the lyline and plays a cut-back which is cleared. The ball comes back in and Mbapp\u00e9 is close to getting a touch. That would have been quite a way to start your 100th intermational game.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Kick-off<\/p>\n 1 min Iraq<\/a> kick off and do the PSG thing, straight into touch.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a017.07 EDT<\/p>\n The teams come out, under what looks like heavy cloud cover, and the first anthem is the Marseillaise. Those swoops!<\/p>\n \u201cPedantic goalscoring email,\u201d says Kieron O\u2019Hara. \u201cFontaine\u2019s 2.17 per game in 1958 is amazing, but I believe actually beaten by Sandor Kocsis in 1954, with 11 in 5 games, so 2.2. And the best average is surely Ernst Wilimowski for Poland in 1938, who scored 4 goals in his only game, so a pretty hot average of 4.<\/p>\n \u201cSorry to be boring.\u201d<\/p>\n This is the MBM! A safe space where nobody needs to be afraid of being boring. And anyway, that wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n And here\u2019s our reporter at the game, Paul MacInnes. \u201cGround already packed for a match that has been highly anticipated in Philly,\u201d he writes. \u201cThe French are here is big numbers (I followed a load of them to the ground today) but the Iraqi contingent is hardly to be sniffed at. They\u2019ve packed out the stand behind one goal, and have been visible all over the city for the past few days.<\/p>\n \u201cJust quickly, but the pre-match has been a weird one. Big load of load music and two hype merchants in the stands getting everyone up. But not all attempts have proven equal. There was a big cheer for the players as the teams were read out (and especially Mbapp\u00e9) but not so much interaction when the call went up for everyone to \u2018Join us in a round of applause for peace!\u2019. I can only imagine Gianni Infantino will be saddened when he hears the news.\u201d<\/p>\n Another good line.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not impossible that Mbapp\u00e9 scores five tonight,\u201d says Andrew Goudie. \u201cAnd then Messi would be the shortest ever holder of that record. It would be even better if both got to the final with an equal number of goals.\u201d<\/p>\n As long as you don\u2019t support one of the other teams.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n An email from the crowd. \u201cWe are in the France<\/a> section,\u201d says Talley Berry. \u201cNo sign of thunderstorms at the moment. Massive party atmosphere up here! Beautiful to see the playful, respectful interactions between the two sets of fans.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Here\u2019s Matjaz Hribar. \u201cIf there will be a storm in Philadelphia during the match,\u201d he wonders, \u201cwill FIFA cancel the hydration break and introduce a drying break?\u201d Good question!<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n And another! \u201cBut Tim,\u201d says Dan on a warm Norfolk coast, \u201cJust Fontaine scored 13 in six games in 1958. No-one is bettering that average.\u201d<\/p>\n Good point! Dan is picking up on the fact that some idiot suggested Mbappe had the best goals per match of any World Cup<\/a> player, when in fact it\u2019s just among players to have appeared in more than one World Cup. That too should be sorted below.<\/p>\n Messi has five goals in two games in this tournament, so technically, right now, he has bettered that average. He\u2019s on 2.5, to Fontaine\u2019s 2.17. But of course there\u2019s a long way to go. And many more teams are involved in 2026, so the early games may be easier for the big guns.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The first email has landed, some time ago actually. \u201c\u2018He needs only a hat-trick to grab the all-time World Cup<\/a> record,\u2019\u201d says Steve Gisselbrecht, quoting an early version of my preamble. \u201cOh please. That\u2019s so 20 minutes ago.\u201d<\/p>\n Good line! And sorry for the blooper \u2013 I wrote it in advance, planning to give it a tweak in the light of whatever Lionel Messi had up his sleeve, and thanks to a misunderstanding it went live a little earlier than expected. It\u2019s fixed now \u2013 at least I hope so.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n There\u2019s been a spectacular storm in Philadelphia. Thunder, lightning, the lot. It led to a request for fans to delay their arrival, but the gates are open now.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>The teams: three changes apiece<\/p>\n Both managers have made three changes. Didier Deschamps brings in Lucas Digne for Theo Hernand\u00e9z at left-back, Manu Kon\u00e9 for Aur\u00e9lien Tchouam\u00e9ni in the pivot and Bradley Barcola for D\u00e9sir\u00e9 Dou\u00e9 on the left wing. William Saliba, who was doubtful, has been passed fit.<\/p>\n Graham Arnold shakes things up even more, changing his goalie as Ahmed Basil replaces Jalal Hassan. That means changing the captain too as Hassan hands the armband to Aymen Hussein. Arnold also brings in Zidane Iqbal, once of Manchester United, at No 10 and Ahmed Qasem on the left. Ali Jasim drops to the bench and so does Ali al-Hamadi, in a cruel blow for Britons who can name only one Iraqi footballer. Hell, Arnold even seems to have changed his formation, from 4-4-2 to 4-2-3-1.<\/p>\n France (4-2-3-1) Mike Maignan; Jules Kound\u00e9, Dayot Upamecano, William Saliba, Lucas Digne; Manu Kon\u00e9, Adrien Rabiot; Michael Olise, Ousmane Demb\u00eal\u00e9, Bradley Barcola; Kylian Mbappe.<\/p>\n Iraq (possible 4-2-3-1) Ahmed Basil; Hussein Ali, Zaid Tahseen, Akam Hashem, Merchas Doski; Zaid Ismael, Amir al-Ammari; Ibrahim Bayesh, Zidane Iqbal, Ahmed Qasem; Aymen Hussein.<\/p>\n (Subs to follow!)<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Latest on Birthgate. There\u2019s been a climbdown from L\u2019Equipe, one of whose presenters said, \u00e0 propos J\u00e9r\u00e9my Doku, that there was no point in a father witnessing the birth of his child. More importantly, the Doku baby has now arrived. It\u2019s a boy called Praise, born in London \u2013 which means he will have the option of playing for England, should he become a footballer too.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Preamble<\/p>\n Evening everyone and welcome to the Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 show. He\u2019s the captain of France, he\u2019s the biggest name in a team full of stars, in fact the biggest name in this World Cup<\/a> among all those who have yet to turn 38. He needs four more goals to share the all-time World Cup record which Lionel Messi has just set. And Mbapp\u00e9 is already the GOAT in terms of goals per match, among those who have scored at more than one World Cup. He has 14 from 15, just pipping Pel\u00e9, who has 12 from 14, staying well clear of Messi, who has 18 from 28, and possibly enraging Cristiano Ronaldo, who has only eight from 23.<\/p>\n Tonight, in Philadelphia, Mbapp\u00e9 will win his 100th cap. The stage is set, but it still takes two to tango. Can Iraq emulate Iran by pulling off a triumphant 0-0? They have never won a point at a World Cup, so it will be a surprise if they manage it against a team as good as France<\/a>. But they love a challenge and don\u2019t mind a bit of hard work: it took them 21 qualifiers to get here, more than any other nation. And in the Australian Graham Arnold, they have a manager so prone to positive thinking that when others talk of a group of death, he sees only a \u201cgroup of excitement\u201d.<\/p>\n Mbapp\u00e9 works hard too. France have played only once, against Senegal, but he has watched that game twice. Maybe he was trying to work out why it took them more than an hour to find the net, albeit against a gifted team. The final score, 3-1, may have flattered France, whose defence looked brittle with William Saliba at left centre-back rather than right, where he\u2019s so commanding for Arsenal.<\/p>\n The Iraqis, on the other hand, can feel rather insulted by their first result, a 4-1 defeat to Norway. They were level for much of the first half, spirited and sparky throughout, and had 11 shots, only one fewer than their opponents. They might well have grabbed that elusive point if their finishing had been calmer \u2013 or if Erling Haaland had changed sides, as your old school coach would surely have insisted.<\/p>\n The kick-off is at 5pm in Philly, which is 10pm BST. Back soon with the teams.<\/p>\n