Côte d’Ivoire surviving the World Cup group stage for the first time, in the year of our football gods 2026, is one of those tidbits that sounds like it shouldn’t be true, and yet here we are.

An underwhelming 2-0 victory, courtesy of Nicolas Pépé’s double, put the Ivorians through to the last 32 as group runners-up. But it was an imprecise contest here in Philadelphia, the cradle of American democracy – such as it is. All the same, a spirited Curaçao leave their first World Cup.

There was always going to be a trade-off in expanding the World Cup from 32 to 48 teams. Too many teams to fully appreciate the complexities and curiosities of each one; certainly too many games to track with any kind of deep attention; the possibility of uncompetitive games, of slightly-hard-to-watch walkovers. But then it also opened up the possibility of the kind of underdog drama that is all too rare in modern football, with the sides usually separated surgically into ability-appropriate devices like the various continental Nations Leagues. Curaçao proved surprisingly competitive with a squad made up mostly of Dutch-born journeymen professionals. They gave good sport in five of the six halves they played at this tournament. The Blue Wave managed an equalizer against Germany in their opener, before getting hammered 7-1. And they recorded a spirited 0-0 stalemate with Ecuador, wherein goalkeeper Eloy Room recorded 15 saves – the most at a World Cup since 2014.

Certainly, Curaçao and the World Cup’s three other newcomers have benefited from the tournament’s expansion. Less fanfare has been made about the impact on nations like Côte d’Ivoire, exactly the sort of side that has quietly profited from the newly bloated format.

They were a team stuck in the sort of upper-middle class of the global football ecosystem. One of the most populous nations in West Africa, they have produced excellent players for decades. Household names: Kolo and Yaya Touré, Didier Drogba; Salomon Kalou and Gervinho, too. Yet they reached just three World Cups, in 2006, 2010 and 2014, owing to the proportional pittance of places at the World Cup reserved for Africa up until now, in spite of reaching the final four of the Africa Cup of Nations five times in the last two decades.

Africa’s delegation has swollen from five sides in 2022 to 10 this time – while the tournament grew by 50%, the African contingent did by 100%. And with nine direct qualifiers, Côte d’Ivoire went undefeated in 10 matches, winning eight and never once conceding a goal.

Until this match, Côte d’Ivoire’s tournament had teetered on a knife’s edge. Amad Diallo’s 90th-minute winner earned them three points in a tight affair with Ecuador. Deniz Undav’s 94th-minute winner for Germany cost Les Éléphants a point six days later.

But just seven minutes in, a disastrous giveaway between Juriën Gaari and Joshua Brenet outside their own box gifted the ball to Yan Diomande. He hurtled at goal and cut back for Pépé, who beat Eloy Room with the simplest of finishes.

If there was little the Curaçao defence could do against the artistry of Diallo and the speed of Diomande, the Ivorians nevertheless declined to engage their wingers in order to put the game away.

But for Diallo’s shot that smashed into Gaari’s face, Curaçao may have edged the opening act in chances on just 26% of possession. Tahith Chong threatened several times, as did Leandro Bacuna. But in truth, the half counted more completed rounds of the wave rippling through the stadium than goals, or indeed clearcut scoring chances.

Such was Côte d’Ivoire’s indifference to filling the scoresheet in the second half that it fell to Curaçao to take the initiative.

Dick Advocaat’s men moved their block upfield and grew more daring in pressing and taking on their foes. It’s just that they lacked the quality to really threaten much, lacking as they were an effective striker or indeed any lively forwards not named Chong, of Sheffield United.

In the 64th minute, the Ivorians finally secured their points. Ibrahim Sangaré played Pépé through a rare crack in the defence and the former Arsenal man gratefully took the pass from his Nottingham Forest teammate and powered his finish past Room.

Commendably, Curaçao kept on pushing, kept on attacking – who knows when they may make it back to this stage? – as Room prevented the Ivorians from inflicting more goals. And it should nevertheless be noted that Curaçao conceded just twice in their final two matches. It’s just that they scored only once in three.