2015 AFRICA CUP - GROUP D - Guinea through in drawing of lots

Africa Cup 2015 GROUP D Quarter-finals

Mali vs Guinea 1:1

Guinea have reached the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals at the expense of Mali after the drawing of lots.

Michel Dussuyer's side will face Ghana on Sunday following the draw at a Malabo hotel.

Guinea and Mali had finished level in Group D after they drew all three pool matches 1:1

It is the first time lots have decided a team's qualification in the tournament since 1988, when Algeria profited at Ivory Coast's expense.

This time, Ivory Coast finished top of Group D in Equatorial Guinea after beating Cameroon 1:0 - the only match in the group not to finish in a 1:1 draw.

One representative from Guinea and Mali took part in Thursday's draw, which involved selecting balls from a bowl.

Mali's football association president Boubacar Diarra went first and pulled out the ball that placed them third in the group.

With Diarra in tears, Amara Dabo, financial director of the Guinea sports ministry, then drew the ball that confirmed his side in second place.

Dabo said: 

"The god of football fortune has smiled upon Guinea after this hard long journey."

Guinea coach Dussuyer and Mali boss Henri Kasperczak had both said before Thursday's draw that lots were an unfair way of deciding who went through. "Mali do not deserve to be eliminated in this way, just as we do not," Dussuyer said.

Kasperczak added:

"We have to solve the problems of qualification without a drawing of lots."