While Ecuador came back against Germany in an epic at the Meadowlands in New Jersey, the other final match of World Cup Group E took place further down I-95 at Philadelphia Stadium.
Ivory Coast knocked off Curaçao, 2-0, in front of a sold out crowd of 68,324, with most wearing orange to support the African side.
The result was history for Côte d'Ivoire, securing a second-place finish in the group and advancing them into the knockout stages for the first-time ever. It comes after three successive appearance in the late 2000s and early 2010s saw the fun squad eliminated in the group stage.
The legends of Ivory Coast's golden generation — Didier Drogba, Yaya Touré, Kolo Touré, and the like — can watch on knowing this new squad has finally achieved that landmark.
Speaking of group-stage exits, Curaçao leaves its debut World Cup with a fourth-place finish in the group. That said, it’s hard to say the CONCACAF island side has anything to regret after its performances.
The 'Let‘s Go to the World Cup' Game
Something you noticed in Philadelphia Stadium was the amount of different kits in the stands.
A majority of the crowd was wearing orange for Côte d'Ivoire. Two massive sections of blue for Curaçao were gathered behind one of the goals and in one of the sideline stands. Later I found out that was friends and family of the team. But elsewhere around the stadium was a mix of everything else.
Dozens of United States kits, Mexico kits, a guy wearing a Columbus Crew kit (maybe he's an Eloy Room fan), Philadelphia Union kits, Norway, Dutch, and the list goes on.
Unlike a Brazil vs Morocco, or a Scotland vs Morocco, or what I assume France vs Norway is going to be like in Boston, this was a get-in game. A midafternoon kickoff that fans used to go see a World Cup match before the event ended, or before the knockouts started and things got really expensive.
Prices for this game fluctuated a lot. Just before kickoff, the get-in price was hovering just below $700, with some brief one-off drops to $219.
Recently, NYSJ’s Andrew Leigh wrote about the ticket price drop that never happened for matches at NYNJ Stadium in New Jersey. This game had its own weird circumstances.
Andrew Leigh
According to TicketData, this “other game” of the two Group E finales was always a low-cost came compared to others.
A ticket for this game was averaging a price between $250 to $300 to get in. It got closer to $200 at the beginning of June as the tournament approached and cratered to a low of $181 on June 9th.
Once the tournament kicked off, the price slowly inched up. When Ivory Coast beat Ecuador on June 14, prices jumped even higher. Then Curaçao held Ecuador to a scoreless draw, leading to another spike.
Seemingly, two forces merged to drive up the price.
Fans who wanted to see at least one World Cup game picked a match to go to. Ergo, all the different kits and fan types in the stadium on Thursday. Then, Ecuador sucked at soccer for two games and suddenly gave both teams in this game something to play for.
Curaçao’s blue wall and march the stadium was going to happen anyway. Most of those fans already had tickets. This was stragglers or fans who saw The Miami FC keeper Eloy Room have a historic match and wanted to see the experience in person. Or, it was the Ivory Coast fans who suddenly realized they might be able to see their country qualify for the knockout stage for the first time.
But teams with something to play for means fans also have to pay "something to play for" money.
Pépé scores, Chong impresses
Nicolas Pépé, at one time Arsenal's £72million record signing, scored a brace for Ivory Coast to give them the win and historic advancement into the Round of 32.
Early in the seventh minute, as the African side pressed high in the Curaçao box, Jurien Gaari's pass back to Joshua Brenet had too much juice and became a loose ball. Ivory Coast’s Yan Diomande jumped on it, crossing to Pépé at the top of the box, who punched it in from just in front of the net.
Pépé later sealed the result in the 64th minute. What seemed like a pass-around on the right side of the Curaçao wing saw Ibrahim Sangaré send a long ball forward, trying to break between the defenders and find Pépé.
The pass beat a sliding defender and found the forward who sent his shot into the opposite side of the net past Curaçao goalkeeper Eloy Room.
The small island nation, the smallest country to ever qualify for the World Cup, fought hard. Leandro Bacuna and Tahith Chong had chances in the first half. The latter had a chance saved in the second minute. Bacuna, and later Sherel Floranus, were visably frustrated as they missed attempts on goal. Punching the air, screaming out that even from the high up press box and through the crowd noise, you could feel it.
That best chance for Curaçao came shortly before halftime when Bacuna broke between two men on the left side of the box, but fired wide at the near post.
Chaotic opening 10 minutes
For those who have spent enough time on sports social media, you may be aquainted with NFL commentator Kevin Harlan. Probably one of his most remembered calls was in December 2019, when the last day of the NFL regular season saw him calling the Los Angeles Chargers vs Kansas City Chiefs game. Late in the game, because it affected playoff seeding, he also began giving updates on the Miami Dolphins vs New England Patriots.
You could hear the Kansas City fans in the stands cheering as Miami took a late lead to give Kansas a huge bye in the NFL playoffs over the Patriots. And, emphatically, Harlan responded to analyst Rich Gannon asking which game he was calling with "I'm calling both games".
That was what the first 10 minutes in Philadelphia felt like.
With both Group E games kicking off at the same time, group placement mattered for three of four teams. Germany was already through as first place finishers after winning their first two games, but second through fourth were in flux.
Confirmed advancement, possible advancement, and no advancement, it was all on the table.
When Germany went ahead of Ecuador early on in New Jersey, chimes best described as the kind you hear before an announcement in an airport rang out with a scoreboard update shown on screen.
The Curaçao fans jumped up, knowing that was big for them if they wanted to possibly finish second with a win. The Ivory Coast fans also knew that Ecuador losing meant they only needed a draw to finish second. Again, more excitement, more hope.
By the time the eighth minute rolled around, Ivory Coast had already taken the lead, but then came news that Ecuador had equalized. A gut punch for the Curaçao fans who now needed to score two goals and needed Germany to score again.
The latter was totally possible, but hope isn't eternal.
In the 77th minute, the game was essentially over with Curaçao down two goals. The majority Ivory Coast fans were celebrating in the stands, while in the press box, one of our TVs noticed Ecuador had scored late to take the lead.
Ignore the inability to do math, Ivory Coast could and would still advance automatically. Credit: Michael Battista
I couldn't tell you why the stadium roared with this update. Maybe shock that Germany was losing? The result meant that three of the four Group E teams were advancing, and there was an energy around Philadelphia Stadium when that update rang out.
This wasn't on the level of a dream Decision Day experience watching the live standings, but with more spots open in the World Cup knockouts, I think more and more of these end-of-group-stage moments are going to become common, especially with eight third-place teams advancing.
