Pépé’s double carries Ivory Coast into the last 32 as Curaçao’s debut ends

Ivory Coast have waited a long time for a night like this. Nicolas Pépé scored twice as the Elephants beat Curaçao 2-0 in Philadelphia overnight, a win that carried them into the World Cup knockout stage for the first time in their history. Second place in Group E was the prize, and it was sealed with the kind of polished finishing that has too often deserted Ivory Coast on the big stage.

Pépé strikes early and late

The opener came inside seven minutes at Lincoln Financial Field. Curaçao switched off at the back, Yan Diomande slid a cross into the box, and Pépé swept it home to settle any nerves in front of a crowd of 68,324.

The second, in the 64th minute, was the better of the two. Ibrahim Sangaré threaded a pass into the area and Pépé took a touch before curling a finish beyond Eloy Room, the Curaçao goalkeeper who had kept his side in earlier matches. The former Arsenal forward, now at Villarreal, has had a stop-start few years since his move to the Premier League stalled, and a brace on this stage was a reminder of the talent that earned him that move in the first place.

A breakthrough for the Elephants

This was Ivory Coast’s fourth World Cup, and the first time they have made it out of the group stage. For a nation that won the Africa Cup of Nations on home soil in 2024, the World Cup had remained a sore subject, three previous trips ending at the first hurdle. Six points and a runners-up finish behind Germany changes that story. They lost narrowly to the Germans earlier in the group but recovered to take care of business when it mattered.

Pépé’s double does not erase the questions about whether this Ivory Coast side has the firepower to trouble the tournament’s heavyweights, but it buys them a place in the last 32 and a chance to find out.

Curaçao bow out, but not without history

For Curaçao, the adventure ends here. The Caribbean island, with a population of roughly 156,000, arrived as the smallest nation ever to reach a World Cup, and Dick Advocaat’s side leave bottom of the group with a single point. The scoreline flattered nobody, but the wider story does not need flattering.

They scored their first World Cup goal through Livano Comenencia in a 7-1 defeat to Germany, then earned their first point with a goalless draw against Ecuador. Against Ivory Coast the gap in quality showed, yet a country that few football fans could have placed on a map a year ago spent three weeks on the sport’s biggest stage. That is its own kind of win.

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