Republic of Ireland Under-17 1-3 Switzerland Under-17
The Republic of Ireland's Under-17 World Cup adventure came to an end on a humid evening in Doha after Colin O'Brien's side were beaten 3-1 by Switzerland in their last-16 tie.
Coming into the game off the back of a thrilling penalty shootout victory over Canada in the round of 32, Switzerland proved to be a step too far for Ireland, with the Boys in Green second best for much of the game.
Following a tight and tense first half, Switzerland upped the tempo after the break, with goals from Adrien Llukes and Sandro Wyss putting them firmly in charge.
Ireland did manage to pull one back after Vinnie Leonard finished off an almighty goalmouth scramble to give Ireland hope, but that was soon erased by Mladen Mijajlovic, who rounded off the scoring for the Swiss.
O'Brien's side started the game with one change from the team that saw off Canada, with Finn Sherlock coming into the defence in place of Oisín McDonagh.
With both sides struggling to get to grips with a strong breeze whipping around the open sporting complex in Doha, it was a cagey opening half of few real chances for either team.
Despite seeing less of the ball, Ireland did carve out a couple of long-range opportunities. Ramon Martos saw his effort from distance go just wide after taking the slightest of deflections off a Swiss boot on 25 minutes.
Shortly after, Grady McDonnell's low rasping effort was just wide of the left post after an Ireland corner, the closest either side came to breaking the deadlock.
The Swiss made an attacking change at the break, with Nevio Scherrer making way for Wyss and that substitution paid off handsomely as the sub began to pull the strings in front of the Irish penalty area.
Wyss served up an early warning for Ireland as he got the best of Ade Solanke with a blistering turn of pace before angling a low shot to the far corner which came back off the far post before being scrambled clear.
Shortly afterwards, Switzerland hit the front. A 50-50 challenge between Jill Stiel and Victor Ozhianvuna ended with the Swiss man coming away in possession. Stiel shifted the ball left to the unmarked Llukes and his low shot took a deflection off the boot of Ryan Butler, wrong-footing goalkeeper Alex Noonan and nestling in the back of the net.
Wyss, who continued to torment the Irish defence, then doubled the Swiss lead on the hour mark. He collected a loose back with his back to goal and with his first touch, spun Solanke, who hadn't got close enough, and then with his second touch riffled a stinging shot into the bottom left corner.
Ireland, knowing the game was getting away from them, adopted a more attacking approach but all too often the final ball was just lacking.
However, with less than ten minutes to go they game themselves a lifeline.
Switzerland were unable to clear their lines from a Rory Finneran corner that dropped right in front of the goalkeeper. The defending side scrambled it away for a second before a clever backheel from Butler put the ball right back in the mixer and Leonard eventually slammed it home.
Ireland now pressed forward in search of a late equaliser, but left huge gaps at the back and that would eventually prove to be their undoing as they were caught out by the counter-attack with just minutes left on the clock.
Breaking from an Irish attack, Mijajlovic played a clever one-two with Stiel that saw him break through the Irish backline. Mijajlovic lined up an angled shot which took a deflection off Butler again, helping it loop up over the head of Noonan and into the far corner, ending Ireland's hopes of taking the game to penalties.
