Mbappe grew into the game in France’s opener against Senegal, netting twice to secure the victory from four shots - all of which managed to find the target. 

I think Didier Deschamps will rotate slightly for this game, but Mbappe should still get the nod to lead the line, given his incredible record in front of goal at the World Cup. The two goals he scored against Senegal took his tally at the competition to 14 goals across three tournaments.

Mbappe should get multiple chances here, Erling Haaland netted twice in Norway’s 4-1 win over Iraq in their opening game, so the quality of this France side should shine through in this clash.

Bradley Barcola is a player I really like. I think he would be talked about amongst the elite more often if he was a bit more clinical with his efforts, but he did manage to get on the scoresheet in France’s 3-1 win over Senegal, and I think he looked slightly better than Desire Doue down that side of the pitch for France.

Barcola only started three games during qualifying, but did manage to get on the scoresheet across those appearances as well as manage five shots (2.07 per 90). A better sample size for Barcola is his performances for PSG during the 25/26 campaign, he managed 31 shots on target across his 21 starts (1.59 per 90) from a wider shot average of 3.45 efforts per 90. 

He also maintained an average of 1.00 shots on target per 90 across his 12 starts in the Champions League, so he is more than capable of performing at this level, and I expect him to get chances against an Iraq side that conceded five shots on target against Norway last time out.

Rabiot committed a foul in France’s win over Senegal and is actually quite an important player in this French side, even if he doesn’t quite have the quality of some of the stars around him.

Rabiot acts as a physical presence in the France midfield whose main instruction is to keep France solid against transitions. This puts him in a pretty good position to commit fouls, especially against an Iraq side that showed they are not afraid to get forward on the counter-attack against Norway, winning 13 fouls and drawing two fouls from Norway’s midfield trio. 

Rabiot maintained an average of 1.24 fouls committed per 90 across his 28 starts for AC Milan in Serie A during the 25/26 campaign and also committed five fouls across his five starts for France at the last Euros (1.20 per 90). 

Iraq committed 12 fouls and collected one yellow card in their opener against Norway and I think they’ll struggle to contain the front four of this French side, who are all pretty capable when it comes to winning fouls. 

Iraq picked up at least one card in 85% of their qualifying matches, so picking up 2+ cards here doesn’t feel that far away when considering the step up in quality between Iraq’s opponents during qualifying and the players France will field here. 

France drew 1.50 cards per game from their opponents during qualifying and drew nine fouls from Senegal in their opening game. The referee for this game is Drew Fischer, who averaged 4.73 cards per game across his 11 appointments in MLS last season. 

France won exactly six corners in their opener against Senegal and should have even more dominance when it comes to winning corners against an Iraq side that conceded five corners against Norway in their opening game.

France have a lot of players who are very talented in 1v1 duels. This specialism should allow them to rack up the corner count as most of their attacks will come down the wide channels, with Iraq looking to shut down central areas and keep things tight. 

France averaged 6.84 corners per game during qualifying, winning 6+ corners in 67% of their matches. Iraq conceded 3.40 corners per game during qualifying, but again, the difference in quality should lead to France registering at least six corners here. 

Ousmane Dembele showed flashes of brilliance against Senegal last time out, and this angle would have landed via Super Sub in that game with Bradley Barcola coming on to score. 

I quite like this dynamic with France in general. The depth they have in forward areas means that even if one of the starting attackers doesn’t quite manage to deliver, you still have a decent chance of a winner through one of the replacements, who are just as talented. 

Dembele enjoyed another strong season for PSG during the 25/26 campaign, netting 22 goals across all competitions. Eight of these goals came across 11 starts in the Champions League, showing that he can deliver at the very top level. 

His record for France should be a lot better for a player of his talent, with seven goals across 60 caps, but it seems like Didier Deschamps likes Dembele in quite a central role, which could improve this output for his country over the course of the tournament.

Merchas Doski picked up more cards than any other Iraq player during qualifying (three), and will have a tough personal assignment against Michael Olise in this clash.

Olise was fouled twice in France’s opener against Senegal and averaged 2.32 fouls won per 90 across his five starts during qualifying for France, showing that he’s a very tough player to stop. 

I can see Olise having quite a few 1v1 battles with Doski, who was fouled four times in Iraq’s 4-1 defeat to Norway last time out - further showing that he enjoys being in these duels and may also be one to watch to win a few fouls in this encounter.

I’ve come to this selection pretty regularly throughout the tournament, and I think it’s an angle that’s a good option in a bet builder for games that are expected to be one-sided.

Iraq didn’t show much fear in their 4-1 defeat to Norway last time out; they pushed forward pretty regularly and managed 11 shots, one of which found the target. It only takes one moment for this leg to land; it could come from a speculative effort, which feels likely given Iraq’s willingness to get forward against Norway.

Mike Maignan is a solid goalkeeper and should be able to deal with the firepower of the Iraqi frontline. He was called into action two times against Senegal and averaged 0.60 saves per game for France during qualifying. 

Aymen Hussein is the main reason that Iraq are at this World Cup. He scored eight goals across 13 starts during qualifying, taking 28 shots across those matches (2.24 per 90). 

He followed up his impressive displays for Iraq during qualifying by scoring Iraq’s first ever goal at a World Cup as they lost 4-1 to Norway, taking three of the 11 attempts that Iraq had in the game overall.

I think he can cause a few problems for this French backline, who are likely to push up very high, leaving space for Ali Al Hamadi and Hussein to get shots away.

France were a bit flat in the first half but came out in the second period really strongly, which is mainly credit to Didier Deschamps. He tweaked the tactical structure at half time, which allowed France to unlock a stubborn Senegal side and eventually come away as 3-1 winners with Mbappe scoring twice.

It’s obvious that this is the best stage for Mbappe, that double made him France’s all time top scorer and also extended his record of being really effective at World Cups, having won the Golden Boot in 2022 and scored four goals back in 2018 as France lifted the trophy. There’s a clear quality gap between these two sides, and it’s hard to see how France don't run away with this game.

I’d be quite surprised to see Iraq score, Norway played them off the park and France are a far superior side to the other European representative in this group, so it should be a pretty one-sided affair. Iraq have never won a game at the World Cup, and I don’t think this will be the fixture that delivers them those three points they’ve been searching for.

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