Ivory Coast took the lead as early as the 10th minute through Didier Drogba before Abdelsalam Khamis put Libya at level two minutes from the interval.

The win virtually put Ivory Coast in charge of Group A on 6 points and virtually secured them a place in the tournament second round, awaiting the result of the Egypt-Morocco match later on Tuesday.

Libya lost hope of qualifying after failing two win any points from their first two matches to lie in last place.

Drogba put Ivory Coast ahead in the 10th minute when he pounced on Arouna Kone’s rebound after Libya keeper Muftah Ghazalla fumbled the ball.

Libya took control of the game after the goal and threatened Ivory Coast goalkeeper Jean-Jacques Tizie on several occasions.

The Libyans finally snatched a deserved equalizer when the onrushing Khamis connected with Jihad Muntaser’s inch-perfect cross to head home past the diving Tizie in the 43rd minute.

Ivory Coast gave a lackluster performance in the second-half and were lucky to grab the winner through Toure with 15 minutes left to play.

Toure headed a looping ball over the out-of-position Ghazalla after the Libya keeper hastily cleared a tame cross.