Yamoussoukro, June 26 -- Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire) President Alassane Ouattara hailed the country's football team as they secured their first-ever knockout qualification in the FIFA World Cup history on Thursday, June 25 (local time), by defeating Curacao 2-0 in their final Group E clash of the 2026 World Cup, at Philadelphia.

In a post on X, President Ouattara hailed the Ivory Coast team on their historic qualification to the World Cup knockout stage and wished them best for the rest of the tournament.

"Bravo to our Elephants for this historic qualification to the second round of a FIFA World Cup final phase. Full speed ahead to the round of sixteen," he said in the X post.

Coming to the match, a decisive brace from Nicolas Pepe pow...