Ivory Coast into World Cup knockout round for 1st time on strength of Pepe's 2 goals

Ivory Coast got goals from Nicolas Pepe in each half and advanced to the World Cup knockout round for the first time in the West African team's history with a 2-0 victory over Curaçao on Thursday in Philadelphia.

Les Elephants have crashed the party and made it out of their group for the first time in four World Cup appearances.

Ivory Coast beat Ecuador 1-0 in its tournament opener, at the same Philadelphia stadium as Thursday's game, and lost to Germany in its Group E second game.

Ivory Coast will play June 30 against either France or Norway, whichever is the runner-up in Group I.

Curaçao needed to win and instead failed to become the smallest nation to qualify for the knockout stages.

Pepe, who plays for the Spanish club Villarreal, wiped out all the suspense in this one early, scoring in just the seventh minute and the lead held the rest of the game in front of an enthusiastic crowd that made Les Elephants feel at home. Ivory Coast held its training base in nearby Delaware and practised at the Philadelphia suburban home of Major League Soccer's Philadelphia Union.

Throw in a friendly (against the Union's second team), and the thrilling win in the 90th minute against Ecuador, and Les Elephants found their adoptive fans among the crowd of 68,324 — about 40 per cent of the population of Curaçao — at the home of the NFL's Eagles.

The fans in Ivory Coast orange went wild when Pepe scored again on a left-footed shot from the far corner in the 64th minute to seal the win. He was subbed out three minutes later to earn just a bit more rest for the June 30 game that will serve as the biggest one for the national team in World Cup history.

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