Nicolas Pepe inspires Ivory Coast into World Cup knockouts to end Curacao dream

Nicolas Pepe scored twice to lead Ivory Coast to a 2-0 victory over tournament debutants Curacao in Philadelphia on June 25, 2026, securing their place in the World Cup round of 32 as Group E runners-up. Pepe opened the scoring in the seventh minute after a cut-back from Yan Diomande, then doubled his tally in the 64th minute from an Ibrahim Sangare pass. Ivory Coast, who also beat Ecuador 1-0 and lost 2-1 to Germany in the group stage, will face either France or Norway in the last 32.