Guinea handed Nations Cup quarter-final place

Guinea will play in the African Nations Cup quarter-finals after qualifying instead of Mali by the drawing of lots at a ceremony in Malabo on Thursday.

Lots were drawn to determine second place in Group D after both countries finished level after their three opening round matches. Ivory Coast won the group.

Three successive 1-1 draws for both teams meant they could not be separated by points, their head-to-head result, goal difference or goals scored.

Guinea will now play Ghana in Sunday's quarter-final in Malabo at 1600GMT.

It was only the third time in African Nations Cup history that a draw had to be conducted to separate two teams after the group phase.

Previous drawing of lots in 1972 and 1988 favoured Congo and Algeria.

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