France Defeats Iraq with a Trio and Advances to the Round of 32 in the World Cup

The French national team achieved an important victory over its counterpart, the Iraqi national team, with a score of three goals to none as part of the second round competitions of Group Nine in the 2026 World Cup.

From the start whistle blown by Canadian Drew Fisher, the French team entered the match and quickly imposed its control and style on the course of the play, while the Iraqi team relied on defensive clustering and counter-attacks.

In the 14th minute, Kylian Mbappe managed to score the first goal of the match with a long-range shot that found the net of goalkeeper Ahmed Basel, finally giving the lead to the Roosters.

France reached Iraq's goal with more than one attempt and threatened multiple times, with the plan being to end the first half with more than one goal, but the Iraqi defense was present in some opportunities. With Kylian Mbappe's goal, France ended the first half with a clean lead.

The start of the second half was delayed, and the stadium was completely evacuated due to bad weather conditions in Philadelphia, with the delay lasting more than an hour.

With the start of the second half, France tried to press and score the second goal as quickly as possible, and managed to do so in the 54th minute due to a mistake by Iraqi defender Zaid Tahseen, allowing Mbappe to add his second goal in the match and give France the lead.

The third goal came through Ousmane Dembele, who scored his first World Cup goal in the 66th minute, ending the match with a clean 3-0 victory over Iraq.

With this victory, France raised its tally to 6 points at the top of the group, awaiting the match between Norway and Senegal, and also secured qualification to the Round of 32. Meanwhile, Iraq remained without points from two losses.

The French national team will face its Norwegian counterpart in the third and final round next Friday, while Iraq will meet Senegal on the same day.