Nicolas Pepe scored twice as Ivory Coast reached the World Cup knockout stages for the first time thanks to a 2-0 victory which eliminated tournament debutants Curacao. Arsenal’s one-time €83.5m record signing gave his country a seventh-minute lead in Philadelphia, slotting in from close range following Yan Diomande’s cut back from the left before adding a second in the 65th minute.
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Ecuador produced a rousing fightback to come from behind and beat Germany 2-1 in their final Group E match in New Jersey to put themselves into the last 32 of the World Cup. Leroy Sane had fired Germany, who were already qualified as group winners, into an early lead at the MetLife Stadium, before Nilson Angulo soon had Ecuador level after nine minutes.
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South Africa reached the knockout phase at a World Cup for the first time when Thapelo Maseko’s second-half strike gave them victory against South Korea, who can still qualify as one of the best third-placed teams. Maseko fired the ball into the bottom corner in the 63rd minute to put South Africa, who will face co-hosts Canada in Los Angeles on Saturday, on four points behind Group A winners Mexico who beat the Czech Republic 3-0.
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Co-hosts Mexico scored three second-half goals to complete a perfect group record with a 3-0 win over a disappointing Czech Republic. Goals from Mateo Chavez, Julian Quinones and Alvaro Fidalgo made it three wins out of three for Mexico and condemned the Czechs to an early exit at the foot of Group A. Denis Visinsky flashed an early effort wide for the Czech Republic, but it was a rare opening in the first half in Mexico City.
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Scotland lost a second World Cup group game with a bruising 3-0 defeat to Brazil in Miami to leave their last-32 hopes up in the air. Vinicius Junior took advantage of a horror mistake by returning Scots defender Scott McKenna to give the South Americans the lead in the seventh minute and then had the ball in the net in the 20th minute, but was adjudged to have fouled Jack Hendry.
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