World Cup: Ivory Coast into knockouts for 1st time with win over Curaçao

Ivory Coast rejoiced as players dropped to their knees on the pitch for a team photo — peerless in national team history — and they all pointed one finger toward the sky.

One, for the West African team's first-ever trip to the World Cup knockout round.

Why stop there?

“We aren’t setting any limits for ourselves," star forward Nicolas Pépé said. "I think we have huge potential.”

Les Éléphants have crashed the party and made it out of their group for the first time in four World Cup appearances. Pépé scored in each half and Ivory Coast advanced with a 2-0 victory over Curaçao on Thursday.

Players stripped off their jerseys and danced and partied in the locker room for the well-earned and overdue celebration.

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.

“If we aim to go all the way, it doesn’t matter who we play,” Pépé said.

Curaçao needed to win and instead failed to become the smallest nation to qualify for the knockout stages.

Pépé, who plays for the Spanish club Villarreal, wiped out all the suspense in this one early, scoring in just the seventh minute and the lead held the rest of the game in front of an enthusiastic crowd that made Les Éléphants feel at home. Ivory Coast held its training base in nearby Delaware and practiced at the Philadelphia suburban home of Major League Soccer’s Philadelphia Union.

Throw in a friendly (against the Union’s second team), and the thrilling win in the 90th minute against Ecuador, and Les Éléphants found their adoptive fans among the crowd of 68,324 — about 40% of the population of Curaçao — at the home of the NFL's Eagles.

The fans in Ivory Coast orange went wild when Pépé scored again on a left-footed shot from the far corner in the 64th minute to seal the win. He was subbed out three minutes later to earn just a bit more rest for the June 30 game that will serve as the biggest one for the national team in World Cup history.

Here's one more rivalry reason why new Philly fans might keep an eye on Les Éléphants — the next game is in Dallas.

“It’s a little difficult to have to leave Philadelphia,” Ivory Coast head coach Emerse Faé said.

Ivory Coast needed only a draw to advance yet played with a competitive fire and never let Curaçao seem close to getting even in this one