Kylian Mbappe marked his 100th cap for France with two goals, as his side coasted to victory over Iraq in Group I – and towards a World Cup knockout spot.
Mbappe had already continued his remarkable record at the tournament with a double in France’s opening game against Senegal, and he is relishing the battle with Lionel Messi for the golden boot. The fortunes of the team are his primary focus, though, and he brought up a century of international appearances by helping Les Bleus to a 3-0 win here – with Ousmane Dembele rounding out the scoring.
Iraq, meanwhile, had showed a resilience against Norway that belied the scoreline of their 4-1 defeat, and they showed more of that against France before half-time brought a weather delay amid heavy rain in Philadelphia. However, when play resumed two hours later, Iraq gifted Mbappe his second goal, before Dembele got in on the action.
Re-live all of the action from the Group I clash with our live blog below:
GOAL! Norway 3-1 Senegal (Haaland, 58)
That stops Senegal’s resurgence. Pedersen catches Mane napping, the ball is worked from right to left. Nusa misses the initial attempt but it trickles across to Berg. He squares for Haaland and he powers home via the underside of the bar.
Norway 2-1 Senegal
57’ – Mbaye is involved right away. providing for Camara, whose shot is a disappointment from a promising spot.
Norway 2-1 Senegal
54’ – Now a double Senegal change. Jakobs and Mbaye are on for Diouf and Gueye.
GOAL! Norway 2-1 Senegal (I Sarr, 53)
Game on as Ismaila Sarr halves the deficit, getting on the end of Mane’s lovely pass. Sarr is too strong for Moller Wolfe’s clumsy challenge and while it could have been a penalty the Senergal midfielder finishes to make this match very interesting again.
Norway 2-0 Senegal
52’ – Jackson leaps high to meet a cross from the right but his header is caught by Nyland.
GOAL! Norway 2-0 Senegal (Haaland, 48)
Senegal naively push too far up and the move breaks down with Odegaard leading a four-on-three break. The Arsenal captain then slides a pass past Koulibaly’s despairing slide. Haaland collects it and dispatches it into the top right corner.
Restarted! Norway 1-0 Senegal
46’ – We’re back underway in New Jersey. Norway make their second change: Berg is in, Aursnes is out.
‘A deserved result’
Reaction to that result from Chris Wilson, who’s in place in Philadelphia…
“A deserved result for France, who will probably wonder how they didn’t end up winning by four, five or six goals.
“A great day for Kylian Mbappe too, who provided a reminder that he’s the man who’s best-placed to inherit the title of ‘world’s best’ once Messi retires!
“For Iraq, it was a commendable performance in parts, but they simply didn’t have enough to threaten Kes Blues, and the sloppy second goal was their undoing.”
