PHILADELPHIA — At last, Les Elephants are into the knockout phase.
Nicolas Pepe’s double sealed Ivory Coast’s first trip to the World Cup elimination rounds with a 2-0 victory over Curacao on Thursday to finish second in Group E.
For manager Emerse Fae, the feat ends a wait of 20 years since he was an unused substitute for the first Ivory Coast side to reach the World Cup.
“My message would be (to) enjoy this historic qualification, celebrate it,” Fae said of his wishes for his countrymen, through an interpreter. “And once we are done celebrating, please continue sending us positive vibes and praying for us and encouraging us so we can go as far as possible in this tournament.”
Curacao (0-2-1, 1 point) became the eighth team eliminated from the tournament, a fate that arrived later than many anticipated after the Caribbean country became the smallest nation to qualify for the World Cup finals.
Ivory Coast (2-1-0, 6 points) were third in their group in their three previous World Cup appearances from 2006-14 and will face the second-place team in Group I, France or Norway, on Tuesday in Arlington, Texas.
After failing to score in five World Cup qualifying appearances and not being included in Fae’s recent African Cup of Nations squad, Pepe was not an obvious candidate to play hero.
But he took both goals exceptionally well for his first tallies in a competitive international fixture since October 2024.
Fae said he believes the remarks that led to his temporary exclusion are firmly in the past.
“I think this episode with Nico is behind us,” Fae said. “We were always clear with him. We told him why we were not picking him at the time. We told him what we were expecting from him. And so today we’re very happy to have the player we know and love and we’ve always wanted to have.”
The Villarreal man’s first came through the latest in a continuous string of threatening moves from 19-year-old Yan Diomande, who alertly pounced on a Curacao error trying to play out of the back and spotted Pepe charging to the near post.
Diomande laid the ball back from the byline, and Pepe hammered a low first-time finish through goalkeeper Eloy Room from close range.
With plenty of sun and temperatures hovering in the mid 80s, the game appeared to be slowing before Pepe finished off an incisive second for the Africans.
Ibrahim Sangare spotted Pepe’s run into the box with a perfect, line-splitting through ball and Pepe curled his finish from 10 meters inside the left post.
Although it was a deserved Ivorian victory, Curacao had their moments in possibly their last match managed by 78-year-old Dutchman Dick Advocaat, who was taking charge of his third World Cup side.
“We had the opportunities,” Advocaat said through an interpreter. “But they have two forwards that are worth 150 million (euros). That says something about the difference in quality. They have a greater threat, despite the fact that during the first half, we were really playing along (with them).”
–Ian Nicholas Quillen, Field Level Media
