It’s official! Côte d’Ivoire have reached the Round of 16 of a FIFA World Cup for the first time in four appearances after securing a 2-0 victory over a spirited but wasteful Curaçao side on Thursday in Philadelphia.

With six points, the Elephants finished second in Group E behind Germany and will face the runner-up of Group I—either France or Norway—on June 30 in Dallas.

In their previous World Cup appearances in 2006, 2010 and 2014, the Ivorians failed to progress beyond the group stage.

“We are happy and proud, and now we want to aim even higher. We will prepare well for the Round of 16,” head coach Emerse Faé told BeIN Sports after the match. “It wasn’t our best performance of the three games, but the most important thing is that we won, kept a clean sheet and qualified,” he added.

“We know that from now on it’s one game at a time, and we’ll try to go as far as possible,” said Nicolas Pépé, who scored both goals on Thursday.

Despite the defeat and elimination, Curaçao can take pride in their first-ever World Cup campaign, having earned a point against Ecuador.

For this final group-stage match, played in front of a near-capacity weekday afternoon crowd of 68,324 spectators, coach Emerse Faé handed starts to Christopher Operi and 22-year-old Ousmane Diomande in defence, while Ange-Yoan Bonny led the attack.

Curaçao’s Dutch coach Dick Advocaat named the same starting eleven that drew 0-0 with Ecuador.

The Elephants, dominant from the outset, opened the scoring in the seventh minute through Nicolas Pépé, who finished off a cut-back from Yan Diomandé inside the box. The Villarreal forward, named Man of the Match, completed his brace shortly after the hour mark with a right-footed strike after being brilliantly set up by Ibrahim Sangaré in the 64th minute.

Wasteful Curaçao

Young RB Leipzig winger Yan Diomandé was a constant threat with his runs and crosses (18th and 37th minutes), while Amad Diallo looked dangerous with his curling efforts on goal (10th and 23rd minutes).

Sangaré nearly made it 3-0 in the closing stages, but his effort was denied by goalkeeper Eloy Room in the 88th minute.

Curaçao attempted to create danger through efforts from Jurien Gaari (15th minute) and Tahith Chong (20th, 40th and 73rd minutes), whose hairstyle drew comparisons with Carlos Valderrama. The Bacuna brothers also threatened, with Juninho testing the defence and Leandro firing narrowly wide of Yahia Fofana’s goal in the 43rd minute.

After the break, Sherel Floranus produced a fine curling strike from the edge of the box that sailed just over the crossbar in the 56th minute.

However, the “Blue Wave” were ultimately undone by numerous turnovers and poor decision-making in possession, symbolised by two corners that were needlessly conceded to the opposition late in the first half.

Their best opportunity came deep into stoppage time when Jeremy Antonisse and then Floranus, both in offside positions, managed shots on goal (90+3), but it was too little, too late.

Côte d’Ivoire’s historic qualification now opens a new chapter for the Elephants, who will hope to continue their impressive World Cup journey in the knockout stage.