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World Cup: Nicolas Pepe strikes twice as Ivory Coast make historic qualification to knockout stage
26th June, 2026 06:49 AM
Ivory Coast have become the latest African team to advance to the World Cup round of 32 after a 2-0 win over Curaçao on Thursday, June 25, 2026.
A brace from the devastating left foot of Nicolas Pepe was sufficient to see the Elephants advance to the knockout tournament for the first time in the history of the competition, after missing out in 2006 in Germany, 2010 in South Africa, and 2014 in Brazil.
Emerse Faé’s team is making only its fourth appearance at the World Cup, and the AFCON 2023-winning coach has boldly claimed the team is capable of producing a historic run similar to Morocco’s remarkable journey at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The Elephants opened their campaign with a narrow 1-0 victory over Ecuador to put themselves in a strong position to advance to the knockout rounds. A defeat to Germany in Toronto dented their chances of progression before the team bounced back on Thursday.
“We hope our journey can be the same as Morocco’s in 2022,” he told journalists. “We prepared for this competition, and we want to go as far as possible. We have a young squad that is growing well together, growing quickly together, and it’s the first World Cup for all 26 players that I have called up,” he said after the loss to Germany. “We are going to continue and try to use this match as a lesson to fine-tune the mistakes and the shortcomings that we still have. That will help us go as far as possible,” he added.
Ivory Coast will either play Norway or France in the World Cup’s last 32.
Meanwhile, in other clashes, the Netherlands beat Tunisia 3-1 in their final Group F match to secure top spot in the group. Goals from Brian Brobbey and Jan Paul van Hecke, along with an own goal by Ellyes Skhiri, saw the Dutch in cruise control.
Tunisia’s Hazem Mastouri scored what ended up as a mere consolation goal for the North Africans.
The victory means Ronald Koeman’s side qualifies for the Round of 32 as the group winner after two wins and a draw against Japan. Japan, who drew with Sweden in the other group match, finished second on five points, with Sweden also advancing as one of the best third-placed teams.
Tunisia exited the tournament after conceding 12 goals in the group stage, marking a dismal run by the African outfit.
With the Round of 32 taking shape, the Netherlands will now face Morocco in Monterrey, Canada, while Japan will face a highly anticipated clash against Brazil. Already, 18 teams have qualified for the highly anticipated knockout stages, with the remaining groups playing to see who joins them.
