{"id":2000117087,"date":"2026-06-26T08:01:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T06:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/?p=2000117087"},"modified":"2026-06-26T11:54:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T09:54:21","slug":"ivory-coast-make-history-with-first-ever-world-cup-knockout-qualification","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/ivory-coast-make-history-with-first-ever-world-cup-knockout-qualification\/","title":{"rendered":"Ivory Coast make history with first-ever World Cup knockout qualification"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The win confirmed Ivory Coast\u2019s place as Group E runners-up and marked a breakthrough in their fourth appearance at the tournament, finally progressing beyond the group stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Star forward Nicolas P\u00e9p\u00e9 delivered the decisive performance, scoring twice to secure the result. He opened the scoring in the first half after excellent build-up play from teenage talent Yan Diomande, before adding a second goal midway through the second half to seal victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ivory Coast controlled the contest against a Cura\u00e7ao side that needed a win to keep their own hopes alive, but ultimately failed to become one of the smallest nations ever to reach the knockout rounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At full-time, emotional scenes followed as players dropped to their knees for a team photo and pointed to the sky in celebration of a historic achievement. The squad then continued celebrations in the dressing room, marking what they described as a long-awaited breakthrough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe aren\u2019t setting any limits for ourselves,\u201d P\u00e9p\u00e9 said after the match. \u201cI think we have huge potential.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ivory Coast\u2019s path to qualification included a 1\u20130 opening win over Ecuador and a defeat to Germany, but results elsewhere, including Ecuador\u2019s surprise victory over Germany, helped confirm their progression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Elephants will now face either France or Norway, depending on who finishes as runners-up in Group I, in their last-16 tie on June 30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we aim to go all the way, it doesn\u2019t matter who we play,\u201d P\u00e9p\u00e9 added, reflecting growing confidence within the squad after their historic qualification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, another African side, Tunisia national football team, endured a difficult campaign as their World Cup journey came to an end. Tunisia suffered a heavy 3\u20131 defeat to the Netherlands in their final group match, finishing bottom of Group F after losing all three of their games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their tournament was marked by defensive struggles and inconsistency, having conceded 12 goals across the group stage. Despite moments of resilience, including brief spells of competitiveness against stronger opposition, Tunisia were unable to secure a point and bowed out after what their coaching staff described as a disappointing campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Ivory Coast national football team made history on Thursday night as they defeated Cura\u00e7ao 2\u20130 to secure their first-ever qualification to the World Cup knockout stage.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
\u00a0Ivory Coast’s Nicolas Pepe celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ivory Coast national football team made history on Thursday night as they defeated Cura\u00e7ao 2\u20130 to secure their first-ever qualification to the World Cup knockout stage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000117093,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[151],"byline":[192],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000117087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-editors-choice","byline-wycliffe-nyamasege"],"bylines":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"contributors":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"featured_image":{"id":2000117093,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/06\/download-new.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":1500,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/06\/download-new.jpg","width":1500,"height":1000},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/06\/download-new.jpg","width":1500,"height":1000},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/06\/download-new.jpg","width":1500,"height":1000},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/06\/download-new.jpg","width":1500,"height":1000},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/06\/download-new.jpg","width":1500,"height":1000}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000117087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000117087"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000117087\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000117094,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000117087\/revisions\/2000117094"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000117093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000117087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000117087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000117087"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000117087"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000117087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}