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ABIDJAN, July 1 (Reuters) - Ibrahim Bakayoko scored a hat-trick as Ivory Coast hammered Madagascar 6-0 on Sunday to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for the World Cup finals.

Bakayoko, already the African qualifying tournament's top scorer with eight goals before the group D match, opened his account in the 25th minute.

He made it 2-0 with a penalty shortly before halftime after Gilles Yapi Yapo was brought down in the area and Abdelkader Keita scored the third a couple of minutes after the restart.

The increasingly confident home side bagged three goals in 11 minutes thanks to Yapo, Abdelkader Keita's elder brother Fadel Keita and Bakayoko's final strike in the 82nd minute.

But the rout was not enough to take Ivory Coast to the

finals after Tunisia also managed a 6-0 home win over Congo, taking the North African side to 17 points, three ahead of Ivory Coast who have two more games to play to Tunisia's one.

The Democratic Republic of Congo are third on seven points, ahead of Congo on four and Madagascar on three.