France vs Iraq lasts four hours in World Cup chaos after FIFA take action | Football | Sport
France‘s World Cup defeat of Iraq took nearly four hours to complete due to severe weather conditions. France led 1-0 at half-time in Pennsylvania thanks to Kylian Mbappe’s finish but the final few minutes of the first half were a washout due to a heavy rain downpour that left players and fans soaked.
The first half ended at 10.48pm UK time (5.48pm local) on Monday night but it was soon confirmed that the restart was delayed due to nearby lightning. Fans were urged by an announcement on the stadium’s tannoy to seek shelter on the concourse. Any lightning strikes within eight miles of a stadium in the United States require matches to be delayed for at least half an hour. A match cannot resume until 30 minutes have passed since any lightning was detected nearby. And due to the weather at the Lincoln Financial Field, known as the Philadelphia Stadium for this tournament, the match did not resume until 1am UK time (8pm local).
A FIFA statement read: “Due to adverse weather conditions in Philadelphia, including the risk of lightning in the vicinity of the stadium, the Fifa World Cup match between France and Iraq has been suspended. A 30-minute break has been announced.
“However, the situation is still being observed to determine if further delays are anticipated. IFA will follow the safety protocols established by the local authorities, and the match will resume as soon as it is safe to do so. The safety and security of all individuals is FIFA’s priority. We thank all fans for their understanding and cooperation.”
After a delay of two hours and 12 minutes and a brief warm-up for both sets of players on the pitch, France got the match back underway and wasted little time adding to Mbappe’s opener. The Golden Boot contender added his fourth of this World Cup in the 54th minute.
Ousmane Dembele picked the ball inside the box and squared for Mbappe to tap in after a mix-up between goalkeeper Ahmed Basil and defender Ahmed Qasem. The pass to Basil from Qasem fell to Dembele, who set up Mbappe to score his 16th career goal at a World Cup, matching Germany icon Mirsolav Klose. He trails record holder Lionel Messi by two goals.
And Ballon d’Or winner Dembele scored his first ever goal at international football’s biggest tournament in what was his 13th appearance to make it 3-0 to France with 66 minutes on the clock.
Mbappe missed a late chance to score his hat-trick which meant it ended 3-0 to France as they secured their spot in the round of 32. When the full-time whistle blew, the time was 1.47am (8.47pm local) which meant the match took just 12 minutes shy of four hours to finish.
This match was the first to be interrupted by bad weather at this World Cup but may not be the last considering the regular interruptions at last summer’s Club World Cup in the US.
After Norway’s 3-2 win over Senegal later the same night, the French will be confirmed as Group I winners if they beat the Norwegians in their final game on Friday night.
The winners of their group will face the third-placed team from Group C, D, F, G or H in New Jersey next Tuesday.
