The France squad has plenty of Serie A talent including Manu Kone, Mike Maignan and Adrien Rabiot as they take on Iraq, but there are thunderstorm warnings in Philadelphia.
It kicks off at the Philadelphia Stadium at 22.00 UK time (23.00 CEST, 17.00 local time) in Group I.
Les Bleus defeated Senegal 3-1 in their opening game of the 2026 World Cup, despite a poor first half performance, with a Kylian Mbappé brace and Bradley Barcola counter-attack.
That goal was assisted by Milan midfielder Rabiot, who again starts this evening with his club teammate Maignan in goal.
However, this time he is partnered by Roma’s Manu Koné rather than Aurelien Tchouameni in the middle of the park.
Inter striker Marcus Thuram is on the bench and still waiting for his first minutes of this World Cup.
Iraq were on the end of a 4-1 thrashing by Norway in their first fixture of the tournament, even though Aymen Hussein had scored a temporary equaliser.
There are concerns that kick-off might be delayed this evening because of severe thunderstorm warnings in the Philadelphia area.
This is one of the problems with having the USA, Canada and Mexico hosting the World Cup during the height of lightning season.
There has even been a warning from the stadium organisers that gate opening will be delayed, urging fans not to travel to the stadium at this time.
Rules were put in place that if lightning is detected within eight miles of the stadium, the match will be put on pause for 30 minutes so fans and players can be escorted to shelter.
France vs Iraq line-ups
France: Maignan; Kounde, Saliba, Upamecano, Digne; Koné, Rabiot; Olise, Dembele, Barcola; Mbappé
Iraq: Basil; Ali, Tahseen, Hashim, Doski; Iqbal, Al Ammari, Zaid Ismael, Bayesh; Qasem, Hussein
