Nicolas Pépé scored twice as Côte d’Ivoire defeated Curaçao 2-0 in Philadelphia to reach the World Cup knockout stage for the first time in their history. The victory secured second place in Group E for the Ivorians, who advanced to the last 32 alongside group winners Germany.
Historic Qualification for the Elephants
Manager Emerse Faé urged his compatriots to celebrate the achievement. “Celebrate this historic qualification, like we should,” Faé said. “Once we’re done celebrating, we want to go as far as possible in this competition. This is a young group. They’re all at their first ever World Cup. They’re playing well. There is a lot of solidarity in this group.”
Côte d’Ivoire had previously reached the World Cup in 2006, 2010, and 2014 but never advanced past the group stage. The expanded 48-team tournament gave Africa 10 slots, up from five in 2022, a 100% increase compared to the tournament’s 50% growth.
Pépé’s Double Seals the Win
Pépé opened the scoring in the seventh minute after a defensive error by Curaçao’s Juriën Gaari and Joshua Brenet allowed Yan Diomande to set him up for a simple finish. The second goal came in the 64th minute when Ibrahim Sangaré played Pépé through on goal, and the former Arsenal man curled the ball past goalkeeper Eloy Room.
Curaçao, making their World Cup debut, proved competitive despite the loss. They held Germany to a draw before being hammered 7-1 and played out a 0-0 stalemate with Ecuador, where Room made 15 saves—the most in a World Cup match without extra time since 2014.
Curaçao’s Spirited Campaign
Curaçao manager Dick Advocaat praised his team’s efforts. “This team has outdone itself against world-class sides,” Advocaat said. “[Côte d’Ivoire’s] wingers are worth 50m each … The most important thing when we set out was qualifying for the Gold Cup. And only once we’d done that, qualifying for the World Cup.”
Curaçao conceded only twice in their final two matches but scored just once in the entire tournament. Advocaat remained optimistic about the future: “When you see how we played the second and third game, that’s very promising.”
Ivorian Progress and Potential
Côte d’Ivoire’s qualification underscores the impact of tournament expansion. The Ivorians went undefeated in 10 qualifying matches, winning eight and conceding zero goals. In the group stage, they edged Ecuador 1-0 via a 90th-minute winner from Amad Diallo and lost 2-1 to Germany after a 94th-minute goal by Deniz Undav.
Faé’s young squad, all at their first World Cup, will now face a yet-to-be-determined opponent in the round of 32. “Once we’re done celebrating, we want to go as far as possible in this competition,” Faé reiterated.
