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Mbappe leads France past Iraq in eventful WC fixture

Kylian Mbappe marked his 100th appearance for France with two goals on Monday as his side beat Iraq 3-0 in a FIFA World Cup Group I match that was suspended for nearly two hours due to a severe thunderstorm, reported Xinhua. Mbappe scored either side of halftime as his double moved him past Brazil's Ronaldo on the all-time World Cup scoring list and level with Miroslav Klose on 16 goals, two behind new record-holder Lionel Messi. The 2018 World Cup champion made an aggressive start on Monday and went ahead in the 14th minute when Mbappe collected the ball from Michael Olise outside the box and unleashed a powerful strike that bent Iraq goalkeeper Ahmed Basil's glove and went into the net. Nine minutes after the restart, Iraq repeated a costly mistake it had made against Norway as a wayward goal kick went straight to Ousmane Dembele, who selflessly squared for Mbappe to score. Dembele also got on the scoresheet in the 66th minute when Iraq surrendered in possession in its own half. Olise's through pass found Dembele, who drilled home his first World Cup goal. Iraq had a chance in the 75th minute, but Ali Al Hamadi sent his effort inches wide of the post. Mbappe had an opportunity to complete his hat-trick in the dying minutes, but he blasted over the bar. The lengthy weather stoppage led to the cancellation of the hydration break in the second half. France opened its World Cup campaign with a 3-1 win over Senegal, while Iraq lost 4-1 to Norway. With the win, Les Bleus became the fifth team to reach the next stage and will face Norway in a highly anticipated third-round match, while Iraq takes on Senegal.

Mbappé becomes leader of France’s collective under Deschamps’ regime of trust

Les Bleus’ thrilling front four is built on the spirit the head coach has fostered in his squad, allowing them to be both secure and adventurousIt was a striking image, the picture that best captured France’s World Cup campaign to this point. Not the one that caught Michael Olise in full flight as he executed a perfect bicycle kick that only sprang ungratefully off a Swedish post. Nor the one of the squad posing together on their private jet, turqoise hoods drawn tight to their chins. Instead it was the one of the hug, first between Kylian Mbappé and Didier Deschamps, and then with the rest of the squad too, as they celebrated the opening goal of their 3-0 last 32 victory over Sweden in a purposeful manner.Deschamps said later that Mbappé’s dash towards the technical area had “touched me deeply”. The head coach had briefly stepped back from his duties the week before to grieve the loss of his mother. Mbappé and the squad had wanted publicly to show how much he meant to them. “The group is united,” Deschamps said. “They delivered when I was away and now I’m back, they know I’m here 100. Team spirit doesn’t win you matches but it can help you lose them. The collective strength is above everything and Kylian is the best shining example.” Continue reading...

Sooryavanshi Sledges With Bat: 15-Year-Old's Grudge Innings Has World In Awe

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi came, he saw, and he demolished the Sri Lanka A bowling attack in the Tri-Nation Series final in Dambulla on Sunday

Belgium Cannot Be Understood By The Pedestrian Soccer Mind

It has long been a staple of sporting analysis that the last thing you saw is a terrible predictor of the thing you will see. Las Vegas is paved with the headstones of people who thought they figured out a team's future by breaking down its past. And then there's the Belgian men's national soccer team, which takes this adage one fallacy further by being different teams within the same game, and doing it repeatedly so that the cagey analyst just walks away at the start of the national anthem and says, Tell me when it ends. They got to this point with a tedious draw against Egypt and then doubling down on the tedium with a scoreless draw with Iran; only a mismatched victory over New Zealand allowed them to win their group and advance to last night. Thus, it is with exhausted joy mixed with bewilderment that the USMNT prepares for next Monday's round of 16 showdown with the Belgians, whose performance in their 3-2 extra-time victory over Senegal was very late-model Belgian indeed. They were listless, bland, and seemingly too old to be bold for 85 minutes, during which time they fell behind the far more intrepid and inventive Senegalese, 2-0, and even subbed out their best-ever player (Kevin De Bruyne), and most capable attacker (Jeremy Doku) in what looked like acknowledgement of the inevitable. They were so fried with the game and each other that a second-half hydration break scuffle-ette broke out between Youri Tielemans and Leandro Trossard.