Côte d'Ivoire beat Curaçao to reach the 2026 World Cup play-offs
The Ivory Coast national team beat Curaçao in their third Group E match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The match at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia ended in a 2–0 victory for the Ivorians.
Côte d’Ivoire opened the scoring as early as the 7th minute of the match. Nicolas Pépé successfully finished off a cross from Yann Diomandé to put his team ahead.
In the second half, the Ivorians consolidated their lead. In the 64th minute, Nicolas Pépé scored his second goal, firing a precise shot into the far corner following a pass from Ibrahim Sangaré.
In the other Group E match of the third round, Ecuador pulled off a sensational 2–1 victory over Germany.
At the end of the group stage, Germany finished top of the group with 6 points and progressed to the play-offs. Côte d’Ivoire also picked up 6 points and advanced to the round of 32 in second place.
Ecuador finished the group stage in third place with 4 points and also progressed to the knockout stages. For Curaçao, who picked up 1 point, the World Cup is over.
The 2026 World Cup runs from 11 June to 19 July in the USA, Mexico and Canada. This is the first World Cup to feature 48 national teams. All teams are divided into 12 groups of four. The top two teams from each group, as well as the eight best third-placed teams, advance to the round of 16.
