Côte d’Ivoire 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 Curacao on Thursday.
Les Elephants have crashed the party and made it out of their group for the first time in four World Cup appearances.
Côte d’Ivoire 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.
Côte d’Ivoire will play on June 30 against either France or Norway — whichever is the runner-up in Group I.
Curacao needed to win and instead failed to become the smallest nation to qualify for the knockout stages.
