A first for this World Cup! The France match was suspended for over an hour due to thunderstorms, with all spectators evacuated.

On June 23 Beijing time, a key match of Group I in the World Cup's second round kicked off, featuring France against Iraq. During the second half, because of a thunderstorm, the kickoff had to be delayed by at least one hour.

As early as around the 40th minute of the first half, heavy rain began to pour at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, and it only grew stronger. This made it extremely difficult for players on both sides to pass the ball and greatly affected visibility. During stoppage time, both teams resorted to passing the ball back and forth to waste time, hoping for an early halftime break.

Unsurprisingly, during halftime, FIFA announced that the start of the second half would be delayed due to the severe weather. FIFA stated that this decision was made to comply with local government safety regulations and that the match would resume as soon as it was safe to do so.

The start of the second half was forced to be delayed. All spectators at the venue were also required to evacuate in advance. This is the first time in this World Cup that a match has been suspended due to thunderstorm weather.

Last summer, the FIFA Club World Cup, also held in the United States, saw multiple extreme weather events leading to match postponements. According to statistics from The Athletic, six matches were interrupted due to extreme weather, with the longest suspension lasting 2.5 hours.

Portuguese giants Benfica became the unlucky ones, with two matches delayed for a total of 4.5 hours.