Nicolas Pépé scored a brace as Ivory Coast got the job done to defeat Curaçao 2-0 and book their place in the knockout stages of the 2026 World Cup for the first time.
Pepê scored Ivory Coast's first goal after seven minutes and finished the game off midway through the second half with a brilliant goal.
Curaçao came out firing in the opening five minutes and threatened to get themselves onto the scoresheet with a long-range effort from Tahith Chong.
But some inept defending from Curaçao shortly after saw them hand Yan Diomande the ball in space in their box and he managed to find Pepe, who made no mistake with the finish as he tapped home.
Ivory Coast only needed to draw to advance and after going a goal up, they clearly felt they did not need to press forward and could merely keep the ball.
That proved to be a perfectly effective tactic, as goalkeeper Yahia Fofana had very little work to do.
In the second half, Ivory Coast did press forward but were still cautious, until a wonderful through ball from Ibrahim Sangaré found Pepe in space again and the 31-year-old made no mistake from the edge of the box to stroke home with his left foot into the top left corner.
That goal was enough to see Ivory Coast finish second in the group and they will now meet either Norway or France in the round of 32.
In the other game in Group E, Ecuador fought back from a goal down to beat Germany and secure their spot in the knockouts by finishing among the top eight third placed teams.
