Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland fired France and Norway into the FIFA World Cup’s round of 32 on Monday.
Star of the show Mbappe found the back of the net for the second time in two games to cap his 100th appearance for his country with a comprehensive 3-0 victory against Iraq.
Mbappe volleyed in following some excellent interplay with Michael Olise, before the Real Madrid ace was presented with the chance to tap in from an Iraqi defensive mix-up, doubling the lead.
There was another moment of joy for France, as Ousmane Dembele hit the target for the first time at a major international tournament.
The win was France’s second in as many group-I fixtures; there was also a significant interruption during proceedings caused by lightning and thunder, which forced play to be suspended for over an hour.
After the match, the France captain Mbappé had 16 World Cup goals to his name, level with former Germany and Bayern Munich forward Miroslav Klose and a couple behind record holders Lionel Messi on 18.
Elsewhere, Haaland did similarly and contributed two goals to a nervy 3-2 triumph over Senegal, which secures a place for Norway in the upcoming knockout round.
After Marcus Pedersen had set them on their way with the opening goal, the Manchester City hit-man added another before the interval and one more following the restart to take his haul in this tournament up to four, while all Senegalese strikes came from Ismaila Sarr.
In the match where they were both tied on the leaderboard in second place and the final group-i group game will be held between France and Norway, while both Iraq and Senegal compete for one of the few third best group spots.
