Group E · Matchday 3
CuraçaovsIvory Coast
2026-06-25·16:00 localPredictions finalised
The forecast
Match-outcome probability
- Curaçao win14.5%
- Draw25.1%
- Ivory Coast win60.4%
A clash of identities: Curaçao's balanced approach meets Ivory Coast's possession-dominant style in a fixture the model gives to Ivory Coast at 75%.
Why the model says this
Favoring Curaçao
- ·Curaçao secured two victories and two draws in their last six fixtures, including a 7-0 win in World Cup qualification.
- ·The ensemble model's probability for a home win (12.4%) is higher than some individual models, such as Elo (9.1%) and Stacking (4.3%), suggesting some underlying factors contribute to a slightly less pessimistic outlook.
Favoring Ivory Coast
- ·Ivory Coast holds a significant Elo rating advantage, being favoured by 240 points over Curaçao.
- ·Ivory Coast is ranked 42nd in FIFA, significantly higher than Curaçao's 82nd position.
- ·The model's expected goals for Ivory Coast are 2.09, which is four times higher than Curaçao's 0.51.
- ·Ivory Coast has won 4 of their last 6 matches, including two recent clean sheet victories (1-0, 4-0).
What the model can't fully price
- ·Three players across both squads are carrying fitness doubts, with one projected starter among them. The model does not currently adjust for the impact of these potential absences.
Form check
Curaçao
DecliningCuraçao's recent form shows inconsistency, with two wins and two draws in their last six matches. However, their most recent outings in the FIFA Series resulted in consecutive losses, conceding 7 goals in two games (1-5, 0-2).
Conceded 7 goals in their last two matches.
Ivory Coast
ImprovingIvory Coast enters this match in strong form, having secured four wins and one draw in their last six fixtures. Their two most recent friendly matches both ended in victories with clean sheets (1-0, 4-0).
Won 4 of their last 6 matches.
Analysis
How it plays out
Ivory Coast will dominate the ball. Whether Curaçao can stay organised through long spells without it determines if Ivory Coast's possession converts to chances. Ivory Coast will expect to hold 58% possession. Curaçao need their shape to stay compact without the ball and be clinical when they win it back.
What decides it
Ivory Coast's possession game (58% avg) requires patience in the final third and quick ball recovery when they lose it. The scoring threat is evenly split: Jürgen Locadia (8.7%) and Franck Kessié (8.4%).
Off the pitch
Ivory Coast travel 7,736km, 2x Curaçao's journey. Second-half fatigue is a real factor at that differential.
The angle
The model gives Curaçao just 12.4% to win. Every World Cup produces group-stage upsets; the question is whether this fixture is one of them.
▸Goals & scorelines
Likeliest score 0–2 (16.7%) · xG 0.5 - 2.0
Expected goals
Mean of the Dixon-Coles joint goal distribution. Same fit that produces the most-likely-scoreline list below.
Most likely scorelines
- 0–216.7%
- 0–116.1%
- 0–311.2%
- 0–08.7%
- 1–18.5%
From the Dixon-Coles joint Poisson with the low-score correction. Scorelines are listed in probability order; this is a description of the model's distribution, not a recommendation.
Most likely half-time scorelines
- 0–029.1%
- 0–128.4%
- 0–214.5%
- 1–17.4%
- 1–06.5%
Same Dixon-Coles fit as the full-time list above, with rates halved to a 45-minute window and the low-score correction applied to that 1st-half block. The 0-0 row sits higher here than at full-time because fewer minutes have elapsed.
Goal totals
- More than 0.5 goals91.3%
- More than 1.5 goals71.7%
- More than 2.5 goals45.6%
- More than 3.5 goals24.2%
- More than 4.5 goals10.9%
- More than 5.5 goals4.2%
- Both teams score33.8%
Each row is the probability the match finishes with more than the listed number of goals. Both-teams-to-score is the probability each side scores at least once. All values are marginals of the Dixon-Coles joint goal grid that produces the scoreline list above — not market lines or any other operator construct.
Event-typed probabilities
- Curaçao clean sheetOpposing team scores zero13.3%
- Ivory Coast clean sheetOpposing team scores zero61.6%
Derived from the same Dixon-Coles joint distribution as the scoreline list. These are descriptive event probabilities — see CLAUDE.md §3/§4 (formerly COMPLIANCE.md §4.2.7) for the framing the project uses.
Win-margin probability
- Curaçao by 4+<0.1%
- Curaçao by 3+0.2%
- Curaçao by 2+1.5%
- Curaçao by 1+7.3%
- Draw19.4%
- Ivory Coast by 1+73.3%
- Ivory Coast by 2+47.7%
- Ivory Coast by 3+24.9%
- Ivory Coast by 4+10.7%
Each row is the probability the match ends with the listed margin or larger in that direction. Marginal of the Dixon-Coles joint goal grid; the “by 1+” rows plus the draw row sum to 1.
▸How the match unfolds
Over 2.5 goals 45.6% · BTTS 33.8%
Game state through the match
- Curaçao ahead7.8%
- Level18.4%
- Ivory Coast ahead73.8%
Probability of each game state at minutes 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90 — derived from two independent thinned-Poisson processes with the Dixon-Coles per-team rates. The three lines always sum to 1 at each minute. The right column shows the state at the match's closing minute.
When the first goal arrives
- 0–1534.1%
- 15–3022.5%
- 30–4514.8%
- 45–609.8%
- 60–756.4%
- 75–904.2%
- No goal8.2%
Probability the match's first goal arrives in each 15-minute window. Homogeneous Poisson with combined rate λ = λh + λa from the Dixon-Coles fit; the seven rows (six windows + no-goal tail) sum to 1.
Half-time / full-time grid
| HT ↓ / FT → | HCuraçao win | DDraw | AIvory Coast win |
|---|---|---|---|
| HCuraçao ahead | 4.1% | 2.5% | 1.7% |
| DLevel | 3.3% | 13.3% | 20.4% |
| AIvory Coast ahead | 0.3% | 2.7% | 51.7% |
Each cell is P(half-time result, full-time result). All nine cells sum to 1. Derived from a halved-λ Dixon-Coles fit for the first half plus an independent-Poisson second-half convolution.
Comeback probability
- Curaçao trail at HT, avoid defeat at FT3.0%
- Ivory Coast trail at HT, avoid defeat at FT4.3%
Joint probability — P(side trailing at half-time AND avoiding defeat at full-time). NOT conditional on trailing at HT. Derived from the same half-time / full-time decomposition that produces the HT/FT grid above; a tied first half is neither a home nor an away comeback opportunity.
Cards
- Expected yellow cardsMean of the Poisson on total yellow cards.3.45
- Total yellows over 2.567.0%
- Total yellows over 3.545.3%
- Total yellows over 4.526.5%
- Any red cardP(at least one red card in the match).9.5%
Referee not yet assigned. Using the 2026 pool-mean per-match rate as a placeholder; the model picks up the referee's personal rate once the assignment is published. Total yellow cards modelled as a Poisson with mean equal to two team baselines plus the referee's deviation from the pool mean. Reds are modelled the same way, independently. See /docs/methodology/.
▸Teams & players
Top scorer: Locadia (8.7%)
Match detail
Curaçao
Model-rated key players: Jürgen Locadia (FW) — P(scores) 8.7%; Brandley Kuwas (FW) — P(scores) 3.5%; Jearl Margaritha (FW) — P(scores) 3.5%.
Limited recent tournament data is available for Curaçao's tactical profile. Early indicators suggest a balanced approach.
Curaçao will need to leverage their strengths while managing the physical demands of a tournament spread across three host countries. With Fred Rutten appointed relatively recently (161 days before kickoff), building tactical cohesion in limited preparation time is the immediate challenge.
Ivory Coast
Model-rated key players: Franck Kessié (MF) — P(scores) 8.4%; Simon Adingra (FW) — P(scores) 2.8%; Jérémie Boga (FW) — P(scores) 2.6%.
Ivory Coast under Emerse Faé play a possession dominant game, holding 58% of the ball — among the highest in the tournament field. They press intensely (PPDA 13.7, 2nd in the field).
To succeed, Ivory Coast must control tempo and territory in midfield — their possession-dominant approach depends on dictating the rhythm of each match.
Ivory Coast's predicted XI averages 1,658 club minutes over the 2024-25 season (light load).
Curaçao coverage: 25.0% (3/11 XI matched against the FBref Big-5) · Ivory Coast: 60.0% (7/11).
Ivory Coast converts 16.5% from set-pieces (0.33 expected). Combined, the model expects 0.33 set-piece goals across the 90 minutes.
- P(Ivory Coast scores set-piece goal) 28.3%
- P(set-piece goal in match) 28.3%
Curaçao: Juninho Bacuna on corners (16 corners) (per fbref 2018 19) · Ivory Coast: Nicolas Pépé on corners (13 corners), Ibrahim Sangaré on free kicks (per fbref 2022 23)
If a penalty is awarded to Curaçao, the model gives 75.0% conversion, 73.3% for Ivory Coast.
Curaçao primary PK: Jürgen Locadia (1/1 in 2021-22, per fbref 2018 19) · Ivory Coast primary PK: Franck Kessié (2/3 in 2021-22, per fbref 2022 23).
Derived from the model's per-fixture forecast joint and supporting reference data (predicted squads, set-piece xG share, PK posteriors, club minutes). See /docs/methodology/ for the full methodology.
Tactical forecast
Partial coverage from FotMob match stats (recent qualifiers and friendlies): possession and shot volume only. Press and build-up metrics are not available for this side.
- PPDA
- —
- Possession
- 51%
- Directness (yds/pass)
- —
- Long balls/90
- —
- Set-piece xG
- —
- PPDA
- 13.7
- Possession
- 58%
- Directness (yds/pass)
- 6.4
- Long balls/90
- 34
- Set-piece xG
- 17%
Style profile per side from StatsBomb open-data aggregation across recent international tournaments (Euro 2020/2024, Copa America 2024, AFCON 2023, World Cup 2018/2022). The tactical-fingerprint badge maps each team’s observed style vector into one of eight canonical archetypes via a rule-based classifier; teams with fewer than three matches of qualifying coverage carry an “insufficient-data” label rather than being forced into a default. Sides outside the StatsBomb-open corpus use FotMob team match stats from recent qualifiers and friendlies instead (possession and shot volume only), marked as partial coverage. PPDA = passes the side allows per defensive action (lower = more intense press). Formation distributions are not yet produced — that head of the §2.7 classifier is pending its own data pull. See /docs/methodology/.
Squad depth
Most irreplaceable starters
Curaçao
- Godfried RoemeratoeDefensive midfieldCover: Kevin Felida · 0.050.14gap
- Eloy RoomGoalkeeperCover: Trevor Doornbusch · 0.060.12gap
Ivory Coast
- Oumar DiakitéStrikerCover: Elye Wahi · 0.000.67gap
- Ibrahim SangaréDefensive midfieldNo natural backup0.30gap
- Ousmane DiomandeCentre-backCover: Emmanuel Agbadou · 0.730.23gap
Gap = how far a side's rating at the position falls from the starter to his likely in-squad replacement (named under each name). Larger = harder to replace. Descriptive metric, does not feed the published probabilities. Methodology →
Match conditions
- AltitudeNear sea level10 m
- Avg temperatureFive-year mean over the tournament window24.8 °C
- Avg humidity70%
- Heat stressShade WBGT ~26.5 °CLow heat stress
- Pitch surfacenatural grass
Natural-grass NFL stadium; FIFA-standard hybrid pitch for the tournament.
Heat stress is a shade Wet-Bulb Globe Temperature proxy from the venue's climatology mean temperature and humidity; FIFA mandates cooling breaks at WBGT 32 °C. Afternoon kickoff (local time). These are long-window averages, not a match-day forecast, and they are not inputs to the forecast.
Top scorers · P(scores in this match)
- Jürgen LocadiaPKFW8.7%
- Brandley KuwasFW3.5%
- Jearl MargarithaFW3.5%
- Franck KessiéPKMF8.4%
- Simon AdingraFW2.8%
- Jérémie BogaFW2.6%
Per-player scoring rate from Model #5 (`p_score_per_match`). Reflects each player's npxG/90, expected minutes, team xG share, and the average opposing-team defence. See /docs/methodology/.
Recent match form
Last match player ratings
Curaçao
vs Ecuador · avg —
Ivory Coast
vs Norway · avg 7.5
Player scores from official highlight analysis of each team's most recent match. Observational, not a model input. Methodology →
Video analysis: player performance
Per-player ratings and event breakdowns from official highlights analysis. Tap a player to see their full match timeline.
6Leandro BacunaContributed to the attack with a shot on goal, but had limited overall decisive impact.
1shots▼
Contributed to the attack with a shot on goal, but had limited overall decisive impact.
Match timeline
5Tahith ChongShowed attacking intent with multiple shots but was unable to convert his opportunities.
2shots▼
Showed attacking intent with multiple shots but was unable to convert his opportunities.
Match timeline
9Nicolas PepeScored both goals for Ivory Coast, demonstrating clinical finishing and a strong attacking presence.
Scored both goals for Ivory Coast, demonstrating clinical finishing and a strong attacking presence.
8Yahia Fofana1'–1'Made crucial saves to maintain a clean sheet and secure the win for Ivory Coast.
4saves▼
Made crucial saves to maintain a clean sheet and secure the win for Ivory Coast.
Match timeline
8Amad Diallo1'–1'Scored a crucial goal shortly after coming on as a substitute, proving to be the match-winner.
2goals▼
Scored a crucial goal shortly after coming on as a substitute, proving to be the match-winner.
Match timeline
7KonanDemonstrated excellent dribbling to create a notable attacking opportunity for Curaçao.
▼
Demonstrated excellent dribbling to create a notable attacking opportunity for Curaçao.
Match timeline
7PlataWas a constant attacking threat, hitting the woodwork and testing the opposition goalkeeper.
Was a constant attacking threat, hitting the woodwork and testing the opposition goalkeeper.
Match observations
- Ivory Coast secured a comfortable 2-0 victory over Curacao in a match played in Philadelphia.
- Curacao created several opportunities but struggled with their finishing, failing to trouble the scoreline.
- The atmosphere was vibrant, with both sets of supporters cheering on their teams.
▸Under the hood
Model-by-model comparison
Curaçao vs Ivory Coast
| Model | Weight | Home | Draw | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EloRating-based strength estimate | 32% | 7.7% | 22.0% | 70.3% |
| Dixon-ColesGoal-process model with low-score correction | 63% | 7.3% | 19.4% | 73.3% |
| Hierarchical PoissonBayesian model with confederation pooling | 6% | 8.8% | 20.0% | 71.2% |
| Bayesian stackingLearned-weight combination | — | 2.3% | 16.5% | 81.2% |
| Ensemble (published)Uniform average + isotonic calibration | — | 3.8% | 20.8% | 75.4% |
How each model works
- Elo
- Each team carries a single strength rating updated after every match by a margin-aware K-factor. Match probabilities come from the logistic function of the rating gap. Elo is fast-adapting but coarse — it sees only who won and by how much, not how the goals were scored.
- Dixon-Coles
- A Poisson regression on team-level attack and defence parameters, fitted via maximum likelihood with an exponential time-decay weighting. The Dixon-Coles correction adjusts the four low-score cells (0-0, 1-0, 0-1, 1-1) where independent Poisson underestimates dependence. Produces full scoreline distributions, not just H/D/A.
- Hierarchical Poisson
- A Bayesian Poisson model fitted via MCMC (PyMC) with hierarchical priors that pool attack and defence parameters within confederations. Shrinks small-sample teams toward their confederation mean — helpful for nations with few recent competitive fixtures. Slower to fit but better-calibrated on the tails.
- Bayesian stacking
- Optimises simplex weights (w_elo, w_dc, w_hp) to maximise the leave-one-out log-score across a walk-forward backtest (Yao et al. 2018). The result is a weighted average of the three component models' probabilities, then isotonic-calibrated. Adds no extra features — just learns which component to trust more from historical accuracy.
- Ensemble (published)
- Equal-weight average of all three component models, followed by per-class isotonic regression calibration fitted on 24 months of walk-forward out-of-fold predictions. This is the probability published on the site. The uniform mean is deliberately simple — it avoids overfitting to the stacking weights' training window.
Three independent component models feed two combination strategies. The uniform ensemble is the published probability; Bayesian stacking uses learned weights. Amber bars flag >5pp divergence from the published number. Full methodology
Probability decomposition (transparency surface)
- Baseline ensemble — P(Curaçao win)12.4%
- + Lineup contribution0.0pp
- + Style-matchup contribution0.0pp
- Published P(Curaçao win)12.4%
Decomposition of the published P(Curaçao win) into the calibrated- baseline plus contributions from the §2.3 expected-XI lineup delta and the §2.7 style-matchup interaction. The §2.7 roadmap is explicit that style effects are second-order to team strength — single-digit-percentage P(win) shifts on extreme style matchups, near-zero on balanced ones. We surface the decomposition for transparency even when the contributions are small; the baseline carries the prediction. Methodology: /docs/methodology.
For this fixture both contributions round to under 0.05pp — the fitted style-matchup pair effect is in the small-magnitude regime the model expects to dominate.
Latest news & match context
No recent headlines for Curaçao or Ivory Coast.
- Stage:
- Group E · Matchday 3
- Date:
- 25 Jun
Curaçao
Curaçao come in at close to full strength.
Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast come in at close to full strength.
Curaçao and Ivory Coast both come in at close to full strength, so the forecast rests on baseline team strength rather than late team-news swings.
Availability from the predicted squads and injury feed; forecast adjustments from the model's own decomposition. See /docs/methodology/.
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