Kylian Mbappe is set to win his 100th cap for France as the forward and his side seek more World Cup success against Iraq.
Mbappe continued his remarkable record at the tournament with a double in France’s opening game against Senegal, and is relishing the chance to battle with Lionel Messi for the golden boot. The fortunes of the team will, though, be his primary focus as he prepares to bring up a century of international appearances at the age of 27 in a fixture that France will be expected to win well.
Iraq showed, however, a resilience against Norway to suggest they could pose problems. Though eventually well beaten 4-1, they fought back to level after Erling Haaland’s opener and manager Graham Arnold has promised that his team intend to take the game to the opposition again.
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France vs Iraq LIVE
Both sides are out warming up in Philadelphia, though Iraq’s warm-up is significantly more intense at the moment…
Officials’ own history
It’s not quite Messi and Mbappe-level landmarks but, according to Fifa, for the first time ever, a men’s World Cup match will feature an all-Canadian officiating trio with referee Drew Fischer joined by assistants Micheal Barwegen and Lyes Arfa.
Storm fears allayed – for now
Those early weather concerns have hopefully passed off and the fans are now filling their seats with kick-off abut 45 minutes away.
Efficiency – not the name of the game
For all of Messi and Mbappe’s brilliance, there have been a couple of more efficient performers so far…
Golden boot standings
World Cup golden boot standings
1. Lionel Messi (Argentina), 5 goals
2. Deniz Undav (Germany), 3 goals (2 assists)
3. Jonathan David (Canada), 3 goals
= 4. Vinicius Jr (Brazil), 2 goals (1 assist)
= 4. Cody Gakpo (Netherlands), 2 goals (1 assist)
= 4. Crysencio Summerville (Netherlands), 2 goals (1 assist)
= 4. Mikel Oyarzabal (Spain), 2 goals (1 assist)
= 4. Maximiliano Araujo (Uruguay), 2 goals (1 assist)
= 4. Ayase Ueda (Japan), 2 goals (1 assist)
= 9. Harry Kane (England), 2 goals
= 9. Matheus Cunha (Brazil), 2 goals
= 9. Erling Haaland (Norway), 2 goals
= 9. Yasin Ayari (Sweden), 2 goals
= 9. Elijah Just (New Zealand), 2 goals
= 9. Kai Havertz (Germany), 2 goals
= 9. Kylian Mbappe (France), 2 goals
= 9. Johan Manzambi (Switzerland), 2 goals
= 9. Cyle Larin (Canada), 2 goals
= 9. Ismael Saibari (Morocco), 2 goals
= 9. Folarin Balogun (USA), 2 goals
= 9. Brian Brobbey (Netherlands), 2 goals
Iraq team news confirmed
Iraq XI: Basil; Ali, Tahseen, Hashem, Doski; Al Ammari, Ismaeel; Bayesh, Iqbal, Qasem; Hussein.
Subs: Talib, Hassan, Al Hamadi, Ali, Al Reeshawee, Amyn, Farij, Jasim, Putros, Saadoon, Sher, Sulaka, Yakob, Younis, Yousif.
France XI is near full strength
Reaction to the France team news from Chris Wilson, who’s in place at the Philadelphia Stadium…
Didier Deschamps has clearly not decided to take it easy on Iraq this evening, with the France boss naming an almost full-strength side for tonight’s game.
The big news is that Kylian Mbappe will get his 100th international cap, and he’ll be supported by the likes of Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele and Bayern star Michael Olise once again.
Bradley Barcola is rewarded for his goal against Senegal with a place in the starting line-up as Desire Doue drops out, while Theo Hernandez and Aurélien Tchouaméni are the only other changes – Manu Kone and Lucas Digne come in for that duo.
Line-ups
France XI: Maignan; Kounde, Upamecano, Saliba, Digne; Kone, Rabiot; Olise, Dembele, Barcola; Mbappe
Subs: Risser, Samba, Gusto, Hernandez. Hernandez, Konate, Lacroix, Kante, Tchouameni, Zaire-Emery, Cherki, Doue, Akliouche, Mateta, Thuram
The old school trait turning Mbappe into Monsieur World Cup
There is something old-fashioned about a player defined by the World Cup. Kylian Mbappe can seem a face of sleek modernity, but perhaps he is a throwback footballer. The World Cup is his stage; perhaps no footballer for decades can say that to the same extent.
As Mbappe claimed France’s goalscoring record, and advanced past Pele and Just Fontaine’s totals in World Cups to draw level with Gerd Muller, Didier Deschamps talked of the global audience. Mbappe, he said, did not want to pass Olivier Giroud’s tally for Les Bleus in a friendly. He did it instead against Senegal in the World Cup, in the world’s most famous city. He can prosper when the eyes of the footballing planet are on one match, and one alone. And, in an ever more crowded fixture list, that is rarely the case. Mbappe started this tournament with a very different double of high class. “In this match with a global audience, he has a real aura,” noted Deschamps.
His aura, unlike his peers’, comes from such days. Some of the legends of earlier generations were defined more by World Cups. Santos and Napoli fans may disagree but Pele and Diego Maradona were. Paolo Rossi, Mario Kempes and Fontaine too. For audiences outside South America, Garrincha and Jairzinho were always going to be. For those outside England, Bobby Moore and Geoff Hurst are.
The controversial midfielder enabling Mbappe to shine
It has not always been easy for a neutral observer to get behind Adrien Rabiot, whose dependency on the pitch has been repeatedly concealed by a curious, maddening penchant for irritating coaches, clubs and team-mates as much as opponents.
Yet if France are to reach an unprecedented third straight final, and wrest back the trophy from Argentina’s grasp, Didier Deschamps needs his team’s maligned midfield mainstay to keep pursuing what seems a neverending path to proving critics wrong.
