France beat Iraq 3-0 and booked a place in the last 32 on a night that gave Malo Gusto his first appearance at the FIFA World Cup. The Chelsea defender came off the bench in the 83rd minute, replacing Jules Kounde, as France finished the job after a long stoppage for bad weather in Philadelphia.
The result matters now because it settled France's passage out of the group with one game still to play, and it came in the same match that gave Gusto his tournament debut. He had started on the bench for France's opening game, a 3-1 win over Senegal in New Jersey, but this was the moment he finally got on the field for Les Bleus at the World Cup.
France had already put the game in hand before the delay. Kylian Mbappe scored inside the first 15 minutes, then added a second after Ousmane Dembele won possession from an overhit backpass and set him up. Dembele later scored France's third from Michael Olise's pass, and by then the contest was effectively settled even though play had been halted at half-time for more than two hours while rain was cleared from the pitch.
That is what gave the evening its odd shape. The match kicked off at 5pm local time and ended at 9pm, with France controlling the scoreline before and after the break. Bad weather stopped the game, not pressure from Iraq, and yet France still looked composed enough to finish with a clean three-goal win and qualification secured.
France were viewed as one of the favourites before the match, and the numbers backed that up. Mbappe marked his 100th appearance with his 4th goal of this World Cup and his 11th goal in his last 12 international games, while Dembele's finish added to a performance that left little doubt about the result. The only real unresolved point is what Gusto's late introduction means for Friday, when France face Norway in their final group game.
