⚽️ World Cup kick-off: 5pm ET/10pm BST/7am AEST⚽️ Player guide | Bracketology | Golden Boot | Email TimAnd here’s our reporter at the game, Paul MacInnes. “Ground already packed for a match that has been highly anticipated in Philly,” he writes. “The French are here is big numbers (I followed a load of them to the ground today) but the Iraqi contingent is hardly to be sniffed at. They’ve packed out the stand behind one goal, and have been visible all over the city for the past few days.“Just quickly, but the pre-match has been a weird one. Big load of load music and two hype merchants in the stands getting everyone up. But not all attempts have proven equal. There was a big cheer for the players as the teams were read out (and especially Mbappé) but not so much interaction when the call went up for everyone to ‘Join us in a round of applause for peace!’. I can only imagine Gianni Infantino will be saddened when he hears the news.” Continue reading...