Sawt Falasteen - France-Iraq World Cup game restarts after two-hour storm delay

The game in Philadelphia, which kicked off at 5:00 pm local time (2100 GMT), was halted at half-time as a huge storm passed over the city and didn't resume for more than two hours.

The match kicked off in dry conditions before torrential ain began to fall late in the first half, and supporters were told as soon as the half-time whistle was blown to "exit the open seating area and seek shelter in covered areas of the stadium".

The vast majority of the 68,324-capacity Lincoln Financial Field, renamed Philadelphia Stadium for the tournament, is uncovered -- leaving most of the capacity crowd to pack into the concourses.

The second half eventually got under way at 8:00 pm local time, more than two hours behind schedule, after the pitch had been cleared of standing water.

It is the first match of this World Cup to be delayed by the threat of severe weather, with strict protocols in place in the United States when a storm is detected in the surrounding area.

France were leading 1-0 at half-time in the Group I contest thanks to a Kylian Mbappe goal in the 14th minute.

"We brought the ponchos, we were ready," said Steven Jouan, 32, who had come to Philadelphia from South Carolina with his partner for the game to support France.

"We have been to different sporting events before so we knew that delays happen. Most of the other games get cancelled but a World Cup game, you just gotta stick it out."

Several games at last year's Club World Cup in the US were held up because of bad weather -- in the most extreme example, the last-16 match between Chelsea and Benfica in Charlotte was stopped for almost three hours late in normal time.

M.AlAhmad--SF-PST