Côte d’Ivoire into knockout stage for first time as Pépé inspires win against Curaçao

Côte d’Ivoire surviving the World Cup group stage for the first time, in the year of our football gods 2026, is one of those tidbits that sounds like it should not be true, and yet here we are.

An underwhelming 2-0 victory, courtesy of Nicolas Pépé’s double, put the Ivorians through to the last 32 as group runners-up. But it was an imprecise contest here in Philadelphia, the cradle of American democracy – such as it is. All the same, a spirited Curaçao leave their first World Cup.

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