Philadelphia, United States — The first time Ali Alkabasi saw Iraq play at a World Cup was on television when he was 13 years old. Forty years later, he was inside the Philadelphia Stadium as his nation returned to the big stage and faced former champions France.

Despite a crushing 3-0 loss in his team’s second Group I match, Alkabasi says he is grateful to witness Iraq live at the tournament.

“Seeing Iraq play in the World Cup is enough,” he told Al Jazeera.

“The performance wasn’t too bad. The result was expected. France are on another level. At least the Iraqi players were not just playing long balls. They tried to build up an attack.”

Iraqi fans stood up and saluted their team at the final whistle, and even at three goals down in the final minutes of the game, they cheered for every attack as if they could will it into becoming an equaliser.

‘Matter of pride’

For a country that has faced immense adversity over the past decades, Iraq’s participation in a World Cup brought unadulterated joy to fans, who travelled from across the US and the world to see their team in action.

Halah Maykhan, an Iraqi American who lives in Wisconsin, said Iraq’s return to the World Cup after four decades is a dream come true.

“We are living the dream. My homeland, Iraq, makes it to the World Cup finals in America, where I live. The dream for me is double,” Maykhan told Al Jazeera.

“I am so happy and so excited. This is a matter of pride for the Iraqi people.”

She expressed gratitude to the players for gathering Iraqis from all corners of the planet in one place to rally around the squad.

“We are with this team no matter the results,” Maykhan told Al Jazeera.

“Although they lack experience, we are hoping they do well, and we’re hoping all Arab teams do well.”

Two-time world champions France started the match with intensity, and superstar Kylian Mbappe quieted the raucous Iraqi crowd in the 14th minute with a screamer from the edge of the box – but not for long.

After the shell-shock, Iraqi fans returned to drumming up support for their team as chants of “Iraq, Iraq” rang throughout the stadium.

The process would repeat twice, with France’s goals only temporarily lulling the roars of the supporters of the Lions of Mesopotamia.

Despite the enormous gulf in quality between the two sides, Iraq did not just park the bus and clear the ball as far away as possible from their own goal.

They tried to keep possession and play through France’s high press.

Mohammed Abduljabbar, who lives in Texas, said while the result was disappointing, the team did what it had to do against a better opponent.

“Their performance was good. Yes, there were mistakes, but there were also some beautiful plays. We are proud of them, and we thank them for bringing us to the World Cup,” Abduljabbar told Al Jazeera.

He added that the feeling of watching Iraq at the stadium was “indescribable”.

A nation brought together by football

Beyond football, Iraq’s World Cup journey put on display a fortified national identity across sectarian and religious lines.

At the stadium on Monday, there were Kurdish and Assyrian flags waving alongside the national banner, but all the fans stood united behind the players.

Husam Nafea, an Iraq fan who drove for four hours from Virginia to see the match, said the country has been rising above divisions, and it is now even more unified around the team.

“Wherever we go, we as Iraqis are joyous and united, and hopefully, we remain this way,” Nafea, who was draped in an Iraqi flag, told Al Jazeera outside the stadium.

Over the past decades, Iraq has endured coups, wars, sieges, civil strife, a US-led invasion and the rise of ISIL (ISIS).

Now the country is experiencing a period of relative calm, but it remains near the centre of many geopolitical faultlines in the region.

Nawres Almamoori travelled all the way from South Australia to Philadelphia to watch Iraq in action.

He said the excitement around participation in the tournament is bringing much-needed relief to Iraqis.

“Iraqis have gone through and are still going through a lot,” Almamoori told Al Jazeera. “They deserve this joy.”

An actual storm caught up with Iraq and France on Monday, with heavy rain and thunder halting the match for nearly two hours at half-time.

As fans lined up to enter the stadium under the water dumping from the sky, Iraq fan Hassan Raad said he is unconcerned with the weather or the result.

“Rain, sun, freeze, desert – we are here for our guys,” Raad told Al Jazeera. “The result doesn’t matter. As fans, our job is to support the team.”

Ateka Saleh, an Iraqi American from Wisconsin, echoed the sentiment.

“No matter what happens today, they already brought us here, together, to be happy with them,” Saleh said of the players before the match.

“So, ‘thank you’ to them. We are very proud of this team.”

Kylian Mbappe scored his second brace ‌of the tournament, and France eased to a 3-0 victory over Iraq ⁠in the first match ⁠of this World Cup beset by a lengthy weather stoppage.

Mbappe’s goals came nearly three hours apart after thunderstorms in the region on Monday delayed the second-half kickoff by a shade ⁠under two hours.

They take him to 16 all-time World Cup tallies, pulling him level with former record-holder Miroslav Klose. Earlier on Monday, Lionel Messi set a new benchmark of 18 career World Cup ⁠goals with his brace in Argentina’s 2-0 victory over Austria.

Mbappe’s four goals also place him one behind Messi in the 2026 Golden Boot race.

Reigning Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele also scored after half-time for two-time champions France (2-0-0, 6 points), who are all but assured of progressing.

Their last-32 place will become official if Norway ‌win or draw against Senegal in the other Group I fixture. That match, staged about two hours away by car in northern New Jersey, kicked off near-simultaneously with the start of the long-awaited second half at Philadelphia Stadium.

Iraq (0-2-0, 0 points) remain alive for one of the eight knockout spots allotted for third-place teams.

They will probably need a win in their group finale against Senegal and help elsewhere. And they could be without Aymen Hussein, who scored their only goal this tournament in their ⁠opener, but exited on Monday in the 26th minute with an apparent injury.

France ⁠dominated the early stages, and Mbappe capitalised in the 14th minute.

On an innocent-looking sequence on the right, Mbappe received Michael Olise’s pass, took one touch to his left and, with Iraqi defenders affording him space, unfurled a powerful strike from ⁠the edge of the penalty area that sailed beyond Ahmed Basil’s dive.

The delay could have served as a recovery period for Iraq, who spent most ⁠of the match chasing the ball. Instead, they gifted France ⁠and Mbappe a second on a dreadful mistake from a goal kick.

Dembele was the provider for Mbappe’s tap-in. He scored 12 minutes later, after controlling Olise’s incisive pass into the 18-yard box and finishing low past Basil.

With the outcome never in doubt, ‌the weather provided the drama.

After referee Drew Fischer blew his half-time whistle as storms were already beginning, the skies opened further, and spectators were told to seek shelter in the stadium concourses.

Players finally ‌re-emerged ‌for warm-ups about 1 hour and 40 minutes later, and even then, the restart was delayed further as stadium personnel used squeegees to shuttle standing water off the east side of the pitch.