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Côte d'Ivoire secured their advancement to the knockout stage of the 2026 World Cup this Thursday with a 2-0 victory over Curaçao at the , in the concluding match of the group stage of Group E.
Nicolas Pépé was the standout performer of the match with a brace that settled the game in two different stages. The Villarreal CF winger, who has 50 international caps, opened the scoring in the seventh minute with a clean strike that put the Ivorians ahead from the very beginning.
Pépé himself received a yellow card in the 35th minute, which added tension to the final stretch of the first half. At halftime, Ivory Coast also made a substitution: Amad Diallo was replaced by Christ Inao Oulaï.
In the second half, Pépé sealed the match in the 64th minute with his second goal before being substituted three minutes later in a triple Ivorian change that also included the exits of Ange-Yoan Bonny and Yan Diomande.
Curaçao, despite generating 11 shots —more than the seven of their rival— only managed to put two on target compared to the three from Ivory Coast, highlighting the offensive ineffectiveness of the Caribbean team. The Ivorians dominated possession with 63% against Curaçao's 37% and were more decisive in key moments.
The match also saw two yellow cards issued to Curacao: Juninho Bacuna in the 75th minute and Gervane Kastaneer in the 83rd, the latter just having come on from the bench. In total, the game recorded three yellow cards, eleven fouls by Curacao compared to six by Ivory Coast, and no expulsions.
For Curaçao, the defeat concludes a historic yet bittersweet tournament. The small Caribbean island, with a population of 150,000, competed in its first-ever World Cup, becoming the smallest country to qualify for a World Cup, surpassing the record previously held by Iceland since Russia 2018.
Their only point came on the second matchday, with a goalless draw against Ecuador in Kansas City. In the first matchday, Germany defeated Curacao 7-1, although Livano Comenencia scored the island's first historic goal in a World Cup.
With this result, in second place with six points, resulting from two wins and one loss, scoring four goals and conceding two. Germany ends up in first place with the same number of points but a better goal difference (+6 compared to +2).
In the simultaneous match, Ecuador surprised Germany with a 2-1 victory at MetLife Stadium in New York, with goals from Nilson Angulo and Gonzalo Plata, which allowed them to accumulate four points and advance to the next stage.
The final ranking of Group E of the 2026 World Cup was as follows: Germany (1st, six points, +6 goal difference), Ivory Coast (2nd, six points, +2), Ecuador (3rd, four points, qualified) and Curaçao (4th, one point, eliminated with -8 goal difference). The top three advanced to the Round of 16.
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