Ivory Coast have booked a place in the quarterfinals of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations holding in Equatorial Guinea after recording their first win of the competition over rivals Cameroon in one of the last round of Group D matches on Wednesday.
A lone goal from Max-Alain Gradel was enough to guarantee a 1-0 victory for the Ivorians over Cameroon, who had defeated the Elephants 4-2 in the qualifiers for the tournament.
The Ivorians topped Group D with five points after recording the only win in the group which has recorded a 1-1 draw in all matches before Wednesday.
They have joined hosts Equatorial Guinea, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tunisia, Ghana and Algeria in the quarterfinals, which will begin on Saturday.
The second place in the group will be decided by the drawing of lots on Thursday (today) after Mali and Guinea played out another 1-1 draw on Wednesday night.
The two sides are tied on the same number of points (three) and both had no goal difference after scoring three goals and conceding three goals.
Cameroon needed a win, just like the Ivorians, to avoid the drop and taking the group to a complete dependence on the drawing of lots but lost the match to the superior technical play of the Ivorians.
