France vs Iraq live online: weather delay, updates, goals, score and highlights | 2026 World Cup Group I

The match is set to start in about a half hour. Hopefully this delay means that there will be no more delays to come once the second 45 starts.

Word out of Philly is the players will come out and warm up around 6:40 local time. The game should begin around 7 p.m.

The rain started to come down around a half hour into this match, and it really began to pour in the final few minutes. We are currently in a weather delay awaiting the start of the second half. 

Mbappe is in a moment right now in which he thinks everything he touches could see the back of the net, so why not have a go?

A quarter of an hour into this match, Mbappe found the back of the net with a rocket from outside the area. That's number 15 in his World Cup career and his third a game and a half into this tournament. 

Just as the players head to the halftime break, the PA announcer comes over the loud speaker and tells the crowd to take shelter with thunderstorms passing through shortly. 

WE ARE AT THE HALFTIME BREAK HERE FROM PHILLY!!!

Mbappe got an early goal but Iraq are staying in this game. 

THREE MINUTES TO GO IN THE FIRST HALF HERE FROM A RAINY PHILADELPHIA. 

Free kick for Iraq, and Al Amaari sends it to the back post but France take care of the ball into the mix. 

The rain is going to benefit Iraq for the time being. They want this game to be dirty, and nasty. That plays into their favor against a sultry France side. 

Mbappe plays a 1-2 with Barcola and he spins between a couple of defenders before just seeing that ball stick to the bottom of his feet before he could get a shot off. Wonderful link up play there from the French side. 

It's an absolute down pour here from Philly. First things first, let's just hope we can get to half time. 

Iraq was loose with that ball around the center circle and Mbappe turned on it from midfield and looked to surprise the keeper who was off his line. It went skying over the cross bar but a nice thought there for Mbappe. 

Barcola with some space through the middle the break and looked to slide it to Olise but the space shut down as Hashem got an important touch to that ball. 

As long as it's just rain, play will continue. If there is any lightening, then we are in trouble. 

It is just sprinkling here in Philly. As soon as I typed that everyone in the crowd got out of their seats, and put their rain jackets on. It's pouring in Philly at the moment. 

Iraq have looked better since the hydration break. A couple of charges up the park, defending well in the back. As long as this is a one goal game, they will have a chance to shock France and take a point from them.

Al Amaari sends in an inswinger and sends that to the back post but well over the bodies in the box, and that was a bit wasteful for Iraq who aren't going to get too many of those chances. 

A corner kick to come for Iraq after Dinge deflected the cross from Qasem over the end line. 

Doski send it to the back post for Al-Hamadi and he did get a head to it but was always going to have a tough time directing that on goal. 

Al-Hammadi  is getting subbed in for Hussein who walks off the pitch clutching his groin. 

Mbappe is now level with the Brazilian Ronaldo with 15 World Cup goals and that makes it three in two games. He is right on Messi's heels and this should be a great Golden Boot race. 

WE ARE HEADING TO THE HYDRATION BREAK FROM PHILLY!

Dembele on the near side and he sent it to the back post for Mbappe but he was bumped out of position and that cross goes out for a goal kick. 

Olise looks to have dropped back into the middle which was where Dembele was playing against Senegal a few days ago. Class is class. It doesn't matter where you play, if you are a world class player you make an impact where ever you are positioned in the formation. 

Its an endless onslaught of pressure for Iraq who are living on their back foot and just trying to bend and not break. 

Qasem getting up the right side and he put a hopeful ball into the middle of the area for Hussein, but Maigan came off his line and secured that ball into the box. 

Now is when things get tricky for Iraq. They came out bravely, but not they have to proceed with caution. 

The ball was played back to Mbappe who had way too much space from a shooting position and he cocked back and let loose on the Iraq goal. That's goal number 15 in the World Cup and number 3 in this tournament. 

Dembele put a ball into the mix which was deflected up and should have been routine for the keeper Basil but Hashem came in and headed it out of the hands of his keeper. Luckily for Iraq nothing came of the blunder. 

Dembele skips around a defender and plays a one-two with Olise but his cross into the middle was cut out by Hashem. 

Olise goes down, and the ref plays on. That's a couple times now that players from both teams have gone down expecting a whistle but none came. The ref is letting them play early in this second round game in Group I. 

Mbappe with a half volley from the right side and that is blown wide of the near post but France continue to knock on the door early on. 

Short corner taken and that didn't result in much as Iqbal pokes it away from Dembele. 

First corner kick of the game goes to France, and you'd expect them to have plenty more of these. 

Saliba goes down in the box and has a look at the ref hoping to get a penalty, but the ref ruled he went down a bit too cheaply. 

Mbappe in space, driving at defenders and Al Ammari stuck a leg out and tripped the no. 10. Yellow card for the Iraqi midfielder very early in this game. 

Good early pressure for Iraq, not allowing France to connect too many passes. It will be a tough task to keep that level of play for the entire 90 minutes. 

Everytime Iraq make a positive move up the pitch you can hear the Lions faithful urging their team on here from Philly. 

Let's not forget that this is Kylian Mbappe's 100th cap for France. Lionel Messi had a hat trick in his 200th. Don't think that Mbappe doesn't have that in the back of his mind. 

France with an early chance from Kone who settled a clearance with one touch and slapped it across goal from the top of the area but just blew that one wide. Mbappe was in the area but couldn't get a touch to that ball. 

WE ARE UNDERWAY FROM PHILADELPHIA!!! 

Let's be thankful this game kicked off on time, and let's keep our fingers crossed that the weather holds up. 

The anthems have played for both teams and now it's game time. France are big favorites. Iraq have to hang on as long as they possibly can against this juggernaut of a team. 

Golden Boot standings 

Taking a look at the Golden Boot standings on Day 12 of the World Cup, we see Lionel Messi, obviously at the top of the Golden Boot list with five goals. He was tied with Canada's Jonathan David and Germany’s Deniz Undav. Undav  That all changed with Messi’s brace against Austria. He now has five goals, two ahead of the pack and three ahead of some of the best players in the world. Harry Kane has two. Kylian Mbappe has two and Erling Haaland has two as the star studded Golden Boot race is already heating up midway through the group stages. 

The players are in the tunnel, and it's Barcola, Digne and Kone in for Tchouameni, Doue and Hernandez who were in the XI against Senegal. 

The World Cup's top scorers 

It’s only the third edition of the World Cup for Kylian Mbappe, but the Frenchman is already aiming at World Cup history. With his two goals in the opener, his World Cup goal tally is up to 14, and that is just two behind Miroslav Klose, and now four behind Lionel Messi who scored his 14th, 15th, and 16th goals against Algeria last week and No. 17 and 18 against Austria early today. The list is going to keep changing as long as these two are still in the tournament.

Messi: 18

Klose: 16

Ronaldo: 15 

G. Muller, Mbappe: 14 

Fontaine: 13

Pele: 12

Weather clearing up in Philly?

The players are out on the pitch. The fans are in the stands here in Philly, and for now, the weather looks like it is holding up. 

Jam packed day 

What a day for soccer lovers it has been and will continue to be. We already saw Lionel Messi and Argentina take on Austria in Group J, and now Kylian Mbappe and this potent, star studded France side will look to put on a show here from Philly. Then, later today, Erling Haaland and Norway will take on Sadio Mane and Senegal. Hard to imagine a more action packed day full of world class players but that is the beauty of this tournament. All we have to do it sit back and enjoy it. 

Philadelphia Stadium 

We are here from the City of Brotherly Love and there has been plenty of World Cup love shown here from Philadelphia. The French contingent has traveled well in hopes of seeing their team make another run to the final. Philadelphia Stadium is home of the Philadelphia Eagles, and if you know anything about this city it's the love they have for their teams. Just how many Philly fans will be in the stadium today is unknown but with or without, there will be a festive atmosphere here from the stadium otherwise known as Lincoln Financial Field. 

Star watch: Iraq

It was a dream debut that turned into a nightmare for Iraq's Aymen Hussein. In his first World Cup game, he scored a goal that equalized an early goal from Erling Haaland, but later in the game he would get the final touch on an own goal that sealed the game for the Norwegians. The Al-Karma striker has 9 goals in 7 matches in the Iraqi league and will be looking to get a chance to add to his World Cup tally today against one of the favorites in the tournament. 

The gates to the stadium have been opened, and we are keeping our fingers crossed that this game kicks off on time and continues for an uninterrupted 90 minutes. 

Star watch: France 

Where do we start for the France star watch? From top to bottom, front to back this might be the most star studded side in the entire world. That doesn't always mean they are the best team in the world, but with Kylian Mbappe in front of breakout star of the season Michael Olise, and back to back Champions League winners Desire Doue and Ousmane Dembele this is a team that has endless options in the attacking third. Dembele is the Ballon d’Or winner, and one of the favorites to win it again if France has a great campaign in this World Cup. You never know when or where it’s going to come from but when you place this France side it can come from so many angles and in so many ways. 

Iraq starting XI

Graham Arnold has his XI ready for this massive match up and he is going to be asking for a heroic effort and a little luck for this XI that is gearing up to face mighty France in the second round of the group stage. 

Group I standings 

This is one of the tougher groups in the tournament. Iraq knew they were going to have their work cut out for them in their second appearance in the World Cup. Senegal is the top ranked team out of Africa, meanwhile Norway is ranked much lower than Senegal but have a team led by two Premier League stars and a number of players playing in the top leagues around Europe. Norway and France took the early edge in the group with opening match wins and it's likely that they will be fighting for the top spot in the Group when they meet later this week. 

France's starting XI

Didier Deschamps has his starting XI ready for this match against Iraq. He has his four horsemen at the top of the attack with Dembele, Olise, Barcola and Mbappe up top. Iraq will have their work cut out keeping a clean sheet against this side. 

Last game: Iraq 

For the first time since 1986, Iraq played in a World Cup game. They played Norway to open up their second World Cup campaign in the country's history and they had to go up against Hurricane Haaland who scored a first half brace in his first World Cup match. The Norwegian opened up the scoring in the 29th minute. Iraq would equalize just 10 minutes later but Haaland secured his first half brace off of a deflection on a clearance from the Iraq keeper. Ostigard would add an insurance goal in the 76th minute and an own goal would seal the deal for Norway. 

Weather looming

We have a serious threat of some stormy weather in the area from Philly. Fans were told not to travel to the stadium who weren't already in the area. Still no word on weather kick off will be delayed to the France-Iraq match scheduled for 5 p.m. ET.

Last game: France 

The French side came out a little slow against Senegal in their World Cup opener. With so much ammunition up top, they looking a bit rigid in the first half, but they came out of the halftime break locked and loaded. It was Kylian Mbappe leading the way scoring the opener in the 66th minute off a wonderful assist from Michael Olise. Bradley Barcola came in as a sub in the 80th minute and put his name on the scoresheet two minutes later. Ibrahim Mbaye got one back in stoppage time for Senegal but Mbappe close out the match with a stunner from long range in the sixth minute of stoppage time. 

We are live from Philly  

Hello everyone and welcome to the City of Brotherly Love where the finalists from the World Cup in Qatar have started their tournament off in brilliant fashion. Kylian Mbappe looked fantastic in France's first game against Senegal. Now they turn their attention to Iraq today, hoping to stay at the top of the Group I table before a massive match to end the group stages later this week. This is Iraq’s second time in the World Cup and they are still looking for their first World Cup win. Today they will have their work cut out for them against one of the top teams in the world. 

France vs Iraq  

It's one of the toughest groups of the 12 in this inaugural extended version of the World Cup, and today the second round of matches in Group I kicks off with France and Iraq from Philadelphia. Kylian Mbappe and company will look to continue their hot start to the World Cup today and AS English will be with you all afternoon providing live coverage, stats, highlights and analysis of today’s Group I match up here from Philly.