Ivory Coast book historic World Cup knockout berth

by ALEXIS DOUMBIA
ABIDJAN, (CAJ News) – IVORY Coast have made history by reaching the knockout stage of the World Cup following a comfortable 2-0 victory over Curacao at the Philadelphia Stadium late on Thursday.

The feat ends the heartache suffered at previous editions of the tournament when a Golden Generation never cracked it, often undone by their placement in the so-called Groups of Death alongside heavyweights like Argentina, Brazil, the Netherlands and Portugal.

This time, they had Germany, Ecuador and Curacao, but the fact that this was not a “Group of Death” does not take anything away from their effort.

On Thursday, they finally progressed with a deserved 2-0 win over Curacao at the Philadelphia Stadium.

Nicolas Pepe was the hero with a well-taken double.

Recalled to the starting XI, he gave the Elephants a dream start with a neat finish from close range in the 17th minute and put the game beyond the debutants’ reach in the 64th minute with a left-footed finish into the top left corner.

Prior to this outing, they had secured a 1-0 victory over Ecuador, thanks to a dramatic 90th-minute winner from Amad Diallo.

They went on to suffer a 2-1 defeat to Germany, where they took an early lead through captain Franck Kessié, only to concede a late winner to Deniz Undav.

The achievement is another feather in coach Emerse Faé’s cap, having guided the team to gold in the Africa Cup of Nations in 2024.

By the latest feat, he is the fourth African coach to qualify a team for the knockout stages of the World Cup, after Stephen Keshi, Aliou Cissé and Walid Regragui.

He was part of the 2010 World Cup team but did not play.

At 42, Faé belongs to an elite group of coaches under the age of 50 leading nations in the ongoing tournament.

His side joins Morocco and South Africa in the next round.

Ivory Coast finish second in Group B behind Germany, with both sides on six points but Germany ahead on goal difference.

Ecuador are third and Curacao bottom.

– CAJ News