PHILADELPHIA, June 26 -- The Ivory Coast players collapsed onto each other the moment the final whistle sounded, and for a few seconds the cameras could not tell where one player ended and another began. In four World Cup appearances across twenty years, the Elephants had never been on this side of a group stage. Nicolas Pepe's goal in the early minutes against Curacao on Thursday - a composed left-footed finish from close range after Yan Diomande carved through the box - did what Didier Drogba, Yaya Toure, and three previous World Cup squads could not.

Ivory Coast are in the World Cup knockout stage for the first time in their history.

The 1-0 win at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia came with Germany drawing 1-1 with Ecuador sim...