Mbappe’s first goal gave France a 1-0 lead at halftime, when heavy rain and an incoming thunderstorm prompted a delay of just over two hours and forced the grounds crew to squeegee water off the swampy Kentucky bluegrass at Lincoln Financial Field.<\/p>\n
![\"Kylian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ap26173793551298.jpg#.jpeg\")
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France’s Kylian Mbappe (10) celebrates after scoring his team’s first goal during the World Cup Group I soccer match between France and Iraq in Philadelphia, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo\/Petr David Josek)<\/p>\n
Petr David Josek<\/p>\n
Scoreboard messages directed the crowd to take shelter in the stadium’s covered areas, warning that a severe storm was on the way. Sheets of rain continued to fall through halftime as fans wrapped themselves in ponchos and huddled in the concourse and under balconies.<\/p>\n
Iraq coach Graham Arnold wrestled with a poncho for a few seconds before he pulled it over his head and returned to the covered dugout. French fans who stayed in their seats in the last few covered rows of the top of the stadium waved the country’s flag, and many splashed around the concourse to pass time.<\/p>\n
Others fled for the exits \u2014 at the same stadium where last season’s opener for the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles was delayed 65 minutes in the third quarter because of lightning \u2014 as the delay dragged on, giving overseas spectators a triple dose of American sports nuisances: rain delays, overpriced concessions and TV timeouts in the form of hydration breaks. There was no second-half hydration break in this game after the long, wet pause in the action.<\/p>\n
Weather aside, this game \u2014 as so many do for France \u2014 belonged to Mbapp\u00e9 as he tries to keep pace on the career goals list with new record holder Lionel Messi.<\/p>\n
Playing in his third World Cup, the 27-year-old Mbapp\u00e9 matched Miroslav Klose of Germany on the goals list and moved one ahead of Brazil great Ronaldo.<\/p>\n
Messi scored twice for Argentina earlier Monday to set the tournament record at 18. He had equaled Klose with his first World Cup hat trick in Argentina’s 3-0 win over Algeria last Tuesday night in Kansas City, Missouri.<\/p>\n
Mbapp\u00e9 scored his third goal of the tournament with a left-footed strike \u2014 his supposed weaker foot \u2014 from the edge of the box that got past Iraq goalkeeper Ahmed Basil, who got his first start in the tournament after captain Jalal Hassan allowed all four goals in Iraq’s 4-1 loss to Norway.<\/p>\n