Curaçao’s Nicolas Pepper scores a brace as Côte d’Ivoire secures a historic knockout spot

Nicolas Pepe scored twice as Côte d’Ivoire defeated Curacao 2-0 last night, securing a place in the 2026 World Cup knockout stage for the first time ever and ending the tiny Caribbean nation’s campaign.

Pepe, the former Arsenal striker now with Villarreal, opened the scoring for the Elephants after seven minutes in Philadelphia and added a second just after the hour mark.

Côte d’Ivoire finished the group with six points, equal to Group E leaders Germany, who also lost 2-1 to Ecuador. The Elephants had beaten Ecuador 1-0 in their opening match before falling 2-1 to Germany.

They advance as the group’s second‑placed team, behind Germany on head‑to‑head results.

The 2024 African champions had never previously progressed beyond the group stage in their three prior World Cup appearances. Their historic achievement earns them a last‑32 encounter next Tuesday in Dallas.

The match will be against the runners‑up of Group I, setting up a challenging test against either France—the country where Pepe and several other Ivorian players were born—or Norway.

Curacao, with a population of just 160,000, had already made history by qualifying for the World Cup, but the smallest nation ever to reach the finals, they finished bottom of their group without a win.

Dick Advocaat’s side were thrashed 7-1 by Germany on their tournament debut, but the high point came in their next game when they held Ecuador to a 0-0 draw.

RESULTS

Czech Rep 0-3 Mexico

S’Africa 1-0 South Korea

Ecuador 2-1 Germany

Curacao 0-2 Ivory Coast

TODAY

Friday, June 26:

Japan v Sweden

Tunisia v Netherlands

Paraguay v Australia

Turkiye v USA

Norway v France

Senegal v Iraq