The West Africans will play Group I runner-up France vs. Norway on Tuesday in Texas.
Published June 25, 2026
Nicolas Pepe’s double led Ivory Coast to a 2-0 victory over Curaçao and a place in the World Cup finals for the first time.
Pepe’s somewhat improbable brace in their final Group E match saw the Ivorians finish second on six points, eliminating debutant Curaçao from contention on Thursday afternoon. Les Elephants have finished third in their group in their last three World Cup appearances, from 2006 to 2014.
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The West Africans will play Group I runner-up France vs. Norway on Tuesday in Arlington, Texas.
Curaçao became the eighth team to be eliminated from the competition, but their fate came later than many expected after becoming the smallest country ever to qualify for the World Cup finals last November.
The Blue Wave had chances in this game, but it was probably the last one under the direction of 78-year-old Dutch coach Dick Advocaat, who was leading the team for the third time in the World Cup.
Amad Diallo, Ivory Coast’s first goal scorer at this tournament, was sent off at half-time, but it is unclear whether it was due to injury.
Pepe was not an obvious candidate for heroics after failing to score in five World Cup qualifying games and not being included in Emerse Faye’s recent African Cup of Nations squad.
However, he scored both goals very well, scoring his first goal in an international match since October 11, 2024.
The first goal came in the 7th minute, when 19-year-old Yann Diomande pulled off one of the most threatening sequences of the tournament.
This time Diomande tried to play from the back and pounced on Curaçao’s mistake, finding Pepe charging towards the near post.
Diomande turned the ball back from the byline and Pepe scored his first goal with a low shot past goalkeeper Eloy Room from six yards out.
With plenty of sun and temperatures hovering around 30 degrees Celsius (mid-80s Fahrenheit), the game appeared to slow down until Pepe scored the Africans’ sharp second goal in the 64th minute.
Ibrahim Sangare found Pepe running into the box with a perfect through ball that split the line and Pepe curled inside the left post from 12 yards out from Room.
It was a well-deserved victory for Ivory Coast, but there were also good moments for Curaçao. In the 44th minute, Leandro Bacuna weaved past three defenders into the left half of the penalty area, but his shot just missed the near post.
Ten minutes after the interval, Cherelle Floranus found space 18 yards outside the box, but his shot went just wide of Yahia Fofana in the top right corner.
