Ivory Coast striker Nicolas Pépé matches legendary African milestone

The Ivory Coast national team delivered a spectacular historic moment at the 2026 World Cup, with striker Nicolas Pépé emerging as the star of the show. By netting a brilliant brace, the 31-year-old forward rewrote several iconic football records in one night.

Details: For Ivorian football, this performance was truly long-awaited: Pépé became the first player from the national team to score twice in a World Cup match since Aruna Dindane's double against Serbia and Montenegro at the 2006 World Cup.

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Furthermore, according to Opta, at 31 years and 27 days old, Nicolas Pépé entered the history books as the second-oldest African player to score a brace at the World Cup. The age record at the tournament is still held by the legendary Cameroonian Roger Milla, who scored twice in a single match at the 1990 World Cup in Italy at the age of 38.

This achievement also resonated in Spain’s La Liga: Nicolas Pépé became the first Villarreal player to net a brace in a World Cup match since Denis Cheryshev scored twice for Russia at the 2018 tournament.

Reminder: Ivory Coast reached the World Cup playoffs for the first time ever.