STUTTGART, Germany (AP) - The Netherlands and Ruud van Nistelrooy kept the toughest group at the World Cup simple as can be.

With a 2-1 victory over Ivory Coast, the Dutch joined Argentina in the second round after playing only two games. So much for a down-to-the-wire race for the top two spots.

The Dutch again relied on the wings Friday and got a goal from Robin Van Persie on top of power forward Van Nistelrooy's first World Cup strike. The Africans struck back with a gem from Bakary Kone as all the scoring came in the first half.

For the Africans it was not enough. With the final Group C games on Wednesday, Ivory Coast and Serbia-Montenegro are eliminated.

The Netherlands and Argentina play for first place in the group on Wednesday.

"We pinned them down far back," said Van Nistelrooy. "It was what won the match."

Instead of winger Arjen Robben, the in the first match star for the Netherlands, it was Van Persie who thrilled now.

Van Persie first set up his free kick with a searing run from the right wing into the center, where he was floored on the edge of the penalty area by Kolo Toure in the 23rd minute. Already brimming with confidence, the lefty lined up a drive that clattered into the upper right corner before goalie Jean-Jacques Tizie could get a hand up.

The Dutch started playing their best soccer after the goal, and they finished off Ivory Coast with a six-pass move from defense. At the end of it, Robben sent in Van Nistelrooy _ the striker barely was onside _ and the Manchester United forward ended his World Cup futility with a clean strike, underlying his reputation as a brilliant finisher in the box.

Ivory Coast came back, Kone using his speed down the Dutch left wing. He scored with a sharp-angled drive well outside the reach of keeper Edwin van der Sar. It gave the Africans hope again in the 38th minute.

The Africans kept pressing forward in the second half, bent on staying alive in the World Cup. Instead they went out after showing classy play in two narrow losses.

Van Persie saved the Netherlands late in the game when he chested a ball off the line in a goalmouth scramble.

Ten minutes before the end, the tens of thousands of Dutch fans started singing "Hup Holland Hup," sensing the second round was theirs.

"I am just relishing the atmosphere," said Van Nistelrooy.

In a first half that delighted the sellout crowd of 52,000 at the Gottlieb-Daimler Stadium, both sides challenged often. In the end the Dutch defense was more adept at containing Ivory Coast star Didier Drogba and it made a difference.

In an almost symbolic moment on the half-hour mark, Drogba delighted the fans with nifty ball juggling in the box. But when he tried to beat a defender with a fancy overhead move, a second defender, Johnny Heitinga, coolly cleared the ball.

In a battle between two of the world's greatest power forwards, it was Van Nistelrooy who came out on top. Chelsea's Drogba often lost possession, and on a key 2-on-1 late in the first half, failed to find the open Arouna Kone.