The record Iceland once held — the smallest nation ever to reach a men's World Cup — belongs to someone else now. It belongs to Curaçao, a Caribbean island of just over 150,000 people, who arrive in Philadelphia still chasing their first point of the tournament. The fairytale Icelandic fans know from 2018 has a new setting here. It also had a rough start: seven goals conceded against Germany on debut. Across the pitch stands a side that didn't concede a single goal across ten qualifiers.
The market
The numbers tell two different stories. Curaçao came through CONCACAF qualifying unbeaten, built on a tight, disciplined defensive block — then shipped seven against Germany and, by most accounts, lost all three of their pre-tournament friendlies. One thing survives from that opener, though: Livano Comenencia scored the island's first-ever World Cup goal.
Ivory Coast come at this from the opposite direction. In CAF qualifying they conceded nothing in ten matches — eight wins, two draws, a +25 goal difference — and finished a point clear of Gabon. At the tournament itself they beat Ecuador 1–0 through Amad Diallo's 90th-minute winner, ending the South Americans' 19-game unbeaten run. This is a side that wins tight rather than wide.
Curaçao's leadership, meanwhile, is an open question. Dick Advocaat steered them through qualifying, but the reporting ahead of the finals has been contradictory: some outlets said he stepped away for family reasons, while coverage of the opener still referred to "Advocaat's Curaçao." Who stands on the touchline isn't confirmed. Ivory Coast have the comfort of familiarity — they played their own opener at this exact ground in Philadelphia.
RECENT FORM
(three friendlies and 1–7 to Germany)
+ unbeaten with ten clean sheets in qualifying
The key battle runs down the flanks. Ivory Coast draw their strength from wide attackers — Diallo, Nicolas Pépé, Simon Adingra and Yan Diomande — fed by a strong midfield and quick in transition. Their task is simple to state and hard to do: prise open a low, compact block.
Because Curaçao intend to sit deep. The plan is defence first, little pressing, and fast outlets to Comenencia and Tahith Chong when the chance comes. Leandro Bacuna, the captain and most experienced man, holds the shape together and is also rated a threat from set pieces — one of the few routes to goal a lower-resource side has.
The question is twofold. Can Curaçao stay compact for ninety minutes after conceding seven in their last match? And can Ivory Coast — who created only one goal against Ecuador, and that on the final minute — break down a side committed entirely to closing space? If Curaçao's discipline holds, this becomes another narrow Ivorian win. If it cracks early, it could go the way the Germany game did.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
No record of a previous meeting — a first encounter between the nations.
THE PICK
The pick is an Ivory Coast win. A side that kept a clean sheet in all ten qualifiers meets one that conceded seven in its only tournament match and lost its warm-up games — the gap in quality and the gap in defensive solidity point the same way. The goals market isn't settled, but our read of a low-scoring game rests on the same foundation: Ivory Coast win tight, and managed only one goal against Ecuador.
The risk sits in two places. One, Ivory Coast can rotate and ease off if their group position is already secure after the 20 June fixtures — and then the game opens up, weakening the case for few goals. Two, Curaçao's block is unpredictable after that seven-goal battering; if it breaks early again, the match can easily clear 2.5 even with the result settled. It wouldn't be a surprise, either, if Curaçao grabbed a consolation against a side with little left to play for.
Icelandic readers have a particular stake in this one, even with no Icelander involved. Curaçao took the record for the smallest nation at a men's World Cup directly from Iceland, who held it after 2018. Kickoff is at 20:00 Iceland time, on RÚV. Anyone who remembers the summer of 2018 knows what a run like this can mean for a small country — now it's the Caribbean's turn.