Ivory Coast vs Curaçao: Match Preview | OneFootball

Ivory Coast are coming into this game with a tough loss to Germany, where they gave up a late winner. Despite that though, they have three points in the bag and have a strong chance to go through to the next round.

Meanwhile, Curaçao made history by earning their first point ever in a World Cup by managing to hold Ecuador to a draw.

Can they earn another point? Let’s take a closer look at this game.

Ivory Coast’s Previous Games

Ivory Coast have never made it to the knockout stage of a World Cup. So that was their aim coming into the tournament: to advance out of the group for the first time ever.

They started off well. Despite a poor first half against Ecuador, the Ivorians played much better in the second half and scored a late winner courtesy of Amad Diallo towards the end. Those are valuable three points.

Unfortunately, Ivory Coast were the one conceding the late goal in the next game. Against Germany, they played well and had chances to win the match, but Denis Undav scored in the 94th minute to break the Ivorians’ hearts.

Le Éléphants know they need to get at least a point out of this game to have a good chance of advancing. They have a solid team and possess some great individuals, but have to cut out some errors.

Curaçao’s Previous Games

Curaçao have already made history by being the smallest nation to play in the World Cup.

Their first game was far from easy, as they faced four-time world champions Germany. To everyone’s surprise, Curaçao’s Livano Comenencia managed to score and then held their 1-1 draw for 17 minutes until Nico Schlotterbeck put the hosts up once again. Unfortunately, they would go on to concede five more goals and lose the match 7-1.

So going into the second game against Ecuador, people expected another big loss for Curaçao. But that’s not what happened. The vastly experienced keeper Eloy Room made 15 saves to stymie the Ecuadorians, and helped earned Curaçao a historic point.

Curaçao managed to create some chances as well, so they showed the world that they aren’t a bad team and they do indeed belong in this tournament. Now, they want another historic outcome against Ivory Coast. Will they get it?

Prediction

Ivory Coast aren’t through yet, and they know they can never underestimate any team. They still remember 2014, when they got knocked out by Greece when they only needed a draw to advance.

They will have studied the way Curaçao defended in the last game, and know it won’t be an easy task. They also know they have a lot of individual quality and if they can keep cool heads, they can win this game.

For Curaçao, the confidence and the spirits must be running high after earning a draw against Ecuador.

This will be an even tougher task though. Ecuador have trouble scoring goals, but Ivory Coast will bury the chances Curaçao gave up in the last game.

It will be a competitive game. Curaçao will want to give their all in the last group game. But Ivory Coast seem too strong for them at this moment in time.

Prediction: Ivory Coast 2-0 Curaçao