June 25, 2026
Peter Cziborra/Reuters
Ivory Coast's Nicolas Pépé celebrates scoring a goal with teammates as they beat Curaçao and went 2-0 in Philly in their World Cup matches.
If Ivory Coast continues their impressive march throughout the 2026 World Cup, the Ivorians will surely remember where their own underdog journey started, in Philadelphia – the home of great underdog stories.
Playing in South Philly for the second time in the tournament – the only nation to play two Group round matches at the Linc – Les Éléphants stampeded their way to a 2-0 win over Curaçao on Thursday for their second Group E win, a historic triumph that sent the West African nation into the knockout stage for the first time in country history.
History for Ivory Coast 🇨🇮
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 25, 2026
For the first time ever, Les Éléphants are headed to the knockout stage at a FIFA World Cup! pic.twitter.com/ciWD0duDo9
Eleven days earlier, the Ivorians had stunned an opposition crowd in their opening match in Philly, outlasting favored Ecuador, whose fans had taken over the stadium, in a 1-0 win.
After a 2-1 loss to Germany in their second match, Ivory Coast knew victory over tiny Curaçao would give them second place in Group E and send them into the Round of 32, uncharted terrain for them in their fourth FIFA World Cup appearance.
The Ivorians got their two goals from forward Nicolas Pépé, who put them on the board in the 7th minute with a goal on a crosser from Yan Diomande, and then again in the 64th minute to put Curaçao in an insurmountable hole. Curaçao had totaled just one goal in their first two matches, making a two-goal deficit an impossibly large gap to bridge.
Ivory Coast, which had beaten Ecuador with a late goal from substitute Amad Diallo, wasted no time getting re-familiar with finding the net in South Philly, opening scoring against Curaçao in the 7th minute when Pépé fired a shot into the right side of the net.
After Curaçao's failure to clear the ball from deep inside their own zone, star Ivory Coast forward Yan Diomande, who attended high school in the United States and plays professionally in Bundesliga, converted the miscue into a scoring opportunity when he charged toward the left side of the Curaçao goal and crossed to Pépé for the score.
IVORY COAST FINDS THE OPENER 🇨🇮
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 25, 2026
Nicolas Pépé slots this one home early on! pic.twitter.com/brRp8s3EN2
Pépé finished off Curaçao in the second half, getting behind their defense in the right box and taking a long pass from Ibrahim Sangaré to get 1-on-1 against Curaçao goalkeeper Eloy Room, firing a shot past Room into the left side for the dagger.
Beautiful assist. Beautiful finish.
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 25, 2026
Ibrahim Sangaré connects with Nicolas Pépé to extend Ivory Coast's lead 🇨🇮 pic.twitter.com/ZnOn1Hvp7h
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