Curaçao v Ivory Coast prediction, lineups & tips: FIFA World Cup 2026 Group E

Ivory Coast arrive at Lincoln Financial Field on Thursday knowing a point from their final FIFA World Cup 2026 Group E fixture against Curaçao will send them into the last 32 for the first time in the nation's history. The Elephants, ranked 31st in the world, began the tournament with a 1-0 win over Ecuador before losing 2-1 to Germany in stoppage time last Saturday. One result separates them from history. For Curaçao, the arithmetic is considerably bleaker.

Dick Advocaat's side were beaten 7-1 by Germany on matchday one, conceding seven in a single game that told the whole story of the gulf in class. What followed on matchday two was one of the tournament's great individual displays: goalkeeper Eloy Room made 15 saves to hold Ecuador to a 0-0 draw, equalling the record for the most stops in a World Cup match since records began in 1966, matching Tim Howard's heroics for the USA against Belgium in 2014.

The clean sheet gave Curaçao their first-ever World Cup point, but it has left them bottom of Group E on one point with a goal difference of minus six. To advance, they must beat Ivory Coast and hope Ecuador fail to beat Germany simultaneously in East Rutherford. Advocaat, 78, has already described leading this island nation of 155,000 people to the World Cup as his greatest achievement in management. A win on Thursday would eclipse it entirely.

Ivory Coast's campaign has been more painful than the standings suggest. They were heading for a point against Germany until substitute Deniz Undav came off the bench to score twice, including a 94th-minute winner, to complete a 2-1 comeback. Captain Franck Kessie had given the Elephants a 30th-minute lead. Coach Emerse Faé was furious after the match, criticising Germany's decision not to return the ball after Wilfried Singo went down injured.

Faé gathered his players and pointed to the Curaçao fixture as the one that settles everything. "We've still got everything to play for, and we don't need to wait on the results of other games, we've got our destiny at our own feet to go through to the Round of 32," he said. Amad Diallo, the Manchester United forward, was equally direct after the Germany defeat: "We want to make history for Côte d'Ivoire, and we are going to go there with good mentality."

Faé also pointed to inexperience as the reason his side failed to hold on against Germany. "A difference in experience meant that in the chances that we did have at the end of the game, where we needed to find the back of the net, we were hesitant," he said after the defeat. He goes into Thursday's game with the clearer head: a win, and Ivory Coast are through. There is no need for them to take risks.

Curaçao v Ivory Coast kicks off at 21:00 BST on Thursday, 25 June 2026. The match is broadcast live in the UK on BBC Two, with a free stream on BBC iPlayer. All 104 games at the FIFA World Cup 2026 are on free-to-air television in the UK, split between BBC and ITV.