The French national team continued its strong start in the 2026 World Cup finals, after defeating its Iraqi counterpart 3-0, at dawn on Tuesday, in the second round of Group Nine. The match was held at Philadelphia Stadium in the US state of Pennsylvania in front of a crowd of more than 67,000 spectators, led by Canadian referee Drew Fisher, and witnessed a clear superiority for the Roosters, who achieved their second successive victory in the group stage. Kylian Mbappé imposed himself as the star of the confrontation after he opened the scoring early in the 14th minute with a powerful shot from outside the penalty area, before returning and adding the second goal in the 54th minute, taking advantage of an Iraqi defensive error. The French captain raised his tally to 16 goals in the history of his participation in the World Cup, equaling the number of German legend Miroslav Klose in second place on the list of the tournament’s all-time top scorers, behind Argentine star Lionel Messi, who tops the standings with 18 goals. The French team was not satisfied with that, as Ousmane Dembélé added the third goal in the 66th minute after a decisive pass from Michael Olise, who continued his brilliance by creating his third goal in the current edition of the tournament.