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Nicolas Pepe scored a brace as Ivory Coast beat Curacao 2-0 in their final group match to book their place in the World Cup knockout stage.
It is a historic result for the Elephants, since they had never before managed to get past the first round of a World Cup.
Emerse Fae’s men finished second behind Germany and will now face either France or Norway in the round of 32.
Ecuador also advanced to the knockout phase, after beating Germany 2-1, which allowed it to become one of the best third-place finishers.
It took the Ivorians just seven minutes to break the deadlock when a lapse in concentration by the Caribbean defense opened the way for YannDiomandé, who set the ball up for Pepe to score.
Curacao’s response was immediate, with Tahith Chong testing Fofana for the first time, and the goalkeeper was up to the task.
At the other end, Ivory Coast almost doubled their lead several times thanks to Amad Diallo, who first narrowly missed and then was stopped by a crucial intervention from the opposition defence.
As the minutes passed, Advocaat’s men gained confidence and threatened with the efforts of Gaari, Chong and Bacuna, but were unable to find an equalizer.
In the 64th minute Pepe scored the second goal when he finished off a brilliant through ball from Sangaré.
