AFCON 2025
Pepe’s brace fires Cote d’Ivoire to its first-ever World Cup knockout stage.
Côte d’Ivoire will play in the knockout stage of the FIFA World Cup for the first time after beating Curaçao in their final group game on Thursday night.
Villarreal forward Nicolas Pepe scored twice to help the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations champions attain the historic feat in Philadelphia.
Emerse Fae made a couple of changes to his side in the must-win game after the disappointing loss to Germany in the second group match.
Nicolas Pepe put the Elephants ahead just seven minutes into the tie as he showed great composure in the box before slotting the ball into the back of the net off a Yan Diomande’s pass.
Pepe scored similarly in the second half after he was left unmarked in the box as he doubled the lead for Côte d’Ivoire from Ibrahim Sangare’s pass.
Curaçao struggled to threaten the back line of the West Africans as they resisted just two shots on target courtesy of former Manchester United midfielder Tahith Chong.
Dirk Advocaat’s men are out of the tournament but the Blue Wave will hold their heads high for a memorable World Cup debut after scoring their first-ever goal against Germany and a point against Ecuador.
Meanwhile, Côte d’Ivoire will take on either France or Norway in the round of 32 of the World Cup.
