This is the day the 2015 African Cup of Nations got intense. The teams of Group A starred in the face of qualification to the quarter-final of the competition or elimination from the tournament in Equatorial Guinea.

Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Burkina Faso all went into their final group game with a chance to make it to the next round of the competition.

Congo who were the group leaders prior to the beginning of the final group games played Burkina Faso who were last on log. But that was not a something to worry about as all teams had a chance to qualify on the night.

The game that was closely played in the first half with both teams having an eye on qualification ended with a 0-0 score line going into the interval.

Congo upped their game in the second half as Bifouma scored the opener seven minutes after the break to put Congo 1-0 up against Burkina Faso.

Burkina Faso battled to equalize as Congo also looked for a second to kill the game but the final five minutes of regular had all the entertainment.

Congo had a chance to double their lead in the 85 minute but failed to bury the ball in the back of the net to put their lead beyond Burkina Faso’s reach.

On the break Burkina Faso made sure their match-day adversaries regretted missing a great opportunity as Aristide Bance converted a well calculated cross to put the game level at 1-1.

Game on one might have thought. But no. Burkina Faso’s equalizer did not last a minute as a goalkeeping error saw Congo take back their lead in seconds.

Congo were awarded a foul after passing when the game was leveled at 1-1. The Congolese played in a deep cross into the Burkina Faso penalty box with the goalkeeper rushing out with a punch but subsequently failing to deal with the ball as the ball struck Ondama to give Congo a 2-1.

Congo held on to their 2-1 lead against Burkina Faso as they qualified fo the quarter-final of the African Cup of Nations for the first time since 1972, topping their group in the process.