Kylian Mbappe scored his second brace in as many matches as France secured a place in the Round of 32 with a 3-0 win over Iraq on Monday in a World Cup opener disrupted by a lengthy weather delay.
Mbappe’s goals in his 100th international appearance came nearly three hours apart after thunderstorms in the area pushed the second-half kickoff back by about two hours.
“The first half was good,” France coach Didier Deschamps said. “In the second half, we picked up where we left off. It was not easy given what happened, but we managed to put the game beyond reach. That is a very good thing.”
Mbappe now sits on 16 World Cup goals, drawing level with Germany’s Miroslav Klose on the all-time list. Earlier Monday, Lionel Messi set a new record with 18 World Cup goals after scoring twice in Argentina’s 2-0 win over Austria.
Mbappe’s four goals also put him one behind Messi in the Golden Boot race.
