France Meets Iraq in World Cup Group I Match at Philadelphia Stadium

France will play Iraq in a FIFA World Cup 2026 Group I match on Monday at 5pm (21:00 GMT) at Philadelphia Stadium in Pennsylvania, United States. France defeated Senegal 3-1 in their opening match in New Jersey. Kylian Mbappe scored two goals in that game and became France's all-time top scorer.

Bradley Barcola scored his first World Cup goal as a substitute two minutes after entering the match. Iraq lost 4-1 to Norway in their opening group game on June 16. Aymen Hussein scored an own goal that counted as Norway's fourth goal.

Norway sits top of Group I on goal difference. France is second with three points. Senegal and Iraq both have zero points. 5 percent chance of victory against Iraq according to Opta.

Iraq have a three percent chance of winning. 5 percent chance of a draw. Opta now predicts France has the best chance of winning the 2026 World Cup. France's last five match results, latest first, are W-W-L-W-W.

France and Iraq have never previously met in an international match. Didier Deschamps is expected to start Bradley Barcola, Lucas Digne, and Manu Kone against Iraq.

Ali Jasim is available to start for Iraq after coming off against Norway with a knock. Ahmed Basil could start in goal for Iraq in place of Jalal Hassan. France's predicted lineup is: Mike Maignan; Jules Kounde, William Saliba, Dayot Upamecano, Lucas Digne; Adrien Rabiot, Manu Kone; Ousmane Dembele, Michael Olise, Bradley Barcola; Kylian Mbappe.

Iraq's predicted lineup is: Ahmed Basil; Hussein Ali, Zaid Tahseen, Akam Hashem, Merchas Doski; Ibrahim Bayesh, Amir Al-Ammari, Zidane Iqbal, Ali Jasim; Aymen Hussein, Ali Al-Hamadi. The 2026 World Cup features 13 different kickoff times. The top two teams from each of the 12 groups plus the eight best third-placed teams advance to the round of 32.