By Sports Editor
The Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire
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The Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire secured their ticket to the round of 32 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup following a comfortable 2-0 victory over Curacao at the Philadelphia Stadium on Thursday.
Nicolas Pepe was the star of the evening, netting a brace to end Curacao’s debut campaign and send Cote d’Ivoire into their first-ever World Cup knockout round.
The victory sealed a second-place finish in Group E for the Elephants with six points.
Emerse Fae’s men needed only a point to secure qualification, but they showed intent right from the blast of the whistle. Pepe opened the scoring in the seventh minute, firing a well-taken strike past Eloy Room to settle Ivorian nerves early on.
Curacao, under the guidance of Dick Advocaat, fought back valiantly with Tahith Chong and Jurgen Locadia trying to string passes together, but they struggled to break down a resolute Ivorian backline anchored by Ousmane Diomande and Odilon Kossounou. Pepe put the game beyond the Caribbean island nation in the 64th minute, capitalising on another defensive opening to make it 2-0 and seal the maximum points.
Meanwhile, in the other Group E encounter, Ecuador pulled off a stunning 2-1 comeback victory against Germany to remain hopeful for one of the eight knockout tickets guaranteed to the best third-placed teams.
Despite the defeat, Germany managed to finish as Group E leaders with six points, edging out Cote d’Ivoire on goal difference.
In the early hours of Friday, Turkey, already eliminated, stunned the US 3-2 in their final group game. The Americans had been high-flying in the competition before the match, having scored six goals in two previous
