Philadelphia: The excitement of the World Cup is coming down to the final days of group play & here in Philadelphia, we had a very intriguing game as Curaçao took on the Ivory Coast from Philadelphia Stadium (Known as Lincoln Financial Field) in one of the final games in Group E Pla . This would be the 2nd game that the Ivory Coast would be playing in Philly, as they defeated Ecuador early in group play.

How did we get to gameday? Ivory Coast entered the game off a loss to Germany, while Curaçao made its way to South Philly off a draw to Ecuador. There is a lot on the line for the Ivory Coast if they are to advance to the knockout round.

Lineups:

How the game went

In the first couple of minutes, both teams would have some good scoring chances. Ivory Coast would get the scoring started in the 7th minute on goal from Nicolas Pépé

Later on in the 1st half, Curacao would have at least 2-3 good scoring chances, but unable to finish them, Ivory Coast would take a 1-0 lead into halftime

Going into the second half, what could Curacao do to get back into the game? Nicolas Pépé would add his 2nd goal of the game in the 64th minute for 2-0 lead

I couple of times in the second half that Curacao would attempt to get back in the game but their scoring attempts just could not produce and unable to finsh their chances. a sold-out crowd of 68,324 would see Nicolas Pépé put on a show for Ivory Coast as they would take down Curacao 2-0 & advance to the knockout round of the tournament.

Postgame:

Ivory Coast Nicolas Pépé about playing in Philadelphia

What is next for Ivory Coast & Curacao:
Ivory Coast will advance to the knockout round which is the Round of 32 on June 30 in Dallas while Curacao run in the World Cup comes to an end.

What is next for Philadelphia:
The next World Cup game in Philadelphia is Saturday June 27 as at 5PM as Croatia takes on Ghana to close out group stage, once Group stage is over, the Final World Cup Game in Philadelphia will be on July 4 which will be a Round of 16 game.