Bance and Nakoulma were on hand to fire their side into the last four of the tournament for the first time since 2013.

In the other semi-final, Vincent Aboubakar scored the decisive spot-kick as Cameroon beat highly-fancied Senegal 5-4 on penalties at the Stade de Franceville.

The two sides played out a tense 0-0 draw and still could not be separated after extra time.

Sadio Mane, who plays his club football for Liverpool in the English Premier League, missed his penalty, allowing Aboubakar to keep Cameroon’s pursuit of a fifth Africa Cup of Nations title alive.

Burkina Faso, beaten finalists in 2013, will take on either Morocco or Egypt in the semi-finals, while Cameroon will go up against DR Congo or Ghana.

Burkina Faso started the brighter of the two teams and Tunisia were fortunate not to fall behind in the first half as Nakoulma blazed over the bar from 12 yards.

Bertrand Traore then came within a whisker of giving Burkina Faso the lead as his delicate chip clipped the crossbar.

Mohamed Ali Yacoubi wasted Tunisia’s best opportunity as he could not find the net when well-placed at the back post before the encounter became a nervous and scrappy affair.

Just as the match veered towards a goalless draw, substitute Bance came off the bench and found the corner of the net with a well-directed strike with less than 10 minutes remaining.

With the deadlock finally broken, Tunisia were forced to push forward in vast numbers in search of an equaliser and Burkina Faso took advantage by scoring a second three minutes later.

Nakoulma launched a swift counter-attack and Tunisia goalkeeper Aymen Mathlouthi came out to meet him but judged it poorly, allowing the Burkina Faso striker to coolly slot home and seal victory.