Philadelphia: Ivory Coast got goals from Nicolas Pépé 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 Curaçao on Thursday.Les Éléphants have crashed the party and made it out of their group for the first time in four World Cup appearances.Ivory Coast 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.Ivory Coast will play June 30 against either France or Norway - whichever is the runner-up in Group I.Curaçao needed to win and instead failed to become the smallest nation to qualify for the knockout stages.
