Canada’s Sahil Deo (2) heads the ball in Canada’s 2-1 loss to Chile during FIFA U-17 World Cup Group K soccer action in Doha on Tuesday.Muhammad Fawzan/The Canadian Press
Canada exited the FIFA U-17 World Cup in painful fashion Friday, losing a marathon 10-round penalty shootout to tournament debutant Ireland in round-of-32 play.
Irish ’keeper Alex Noonan made a diving one-handed save to deny Canadian defender Elijah Roche for a 9-8 win in the shootout.
Canada had scored late to pull even at 1-1 and force penalties.
Noonan saved Canadas first penalty attempt from Kevin Khan while Canadian ’keeper Jonathan Ransom stopped Oisin McDonagh with Ireland leading 4-3, denying an Irish victory — at least temporarily.
Dylan Judelson then converted his shot to keep the shootout going. Four more Canadians scored before Noonan ended it.
Canada exits after a breakthrough showing at the tournament. It had gone winless in its eight previous appearances, recording a dismal 0-20-4 record.
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The Irish move on to face Switzerland, which won the tournament in 2009 in its only other appearance, in the round of 16. The unbeaten Swiss, who topped Group F at 2-0-1, dispatched Egypt 3-1 earlier Friday.
Sergei Kozlovskiy had pulled Canada even in the 85th minute with an elegant right-footed volley from outside the penalty box after Ireland failed to deal with a ball sent in from a throw-in. Kozlovskiy, who had come on in the 76th minute, was making his first appearance at the tournament.
The 17-year-old defender joined the CPL’s Atletico Ottawa in March on an Exceptional Young Talent contract from CF Montréal’s youth academy, where he had featured for the club’s U-15, U-17, and U-18 sides after joining in 2022.
Ireland broke the deadlock in the 65th minute after the Canadian defence was carved open by a long ball from Vinnie Leonard. Josh-Duc Nteziryayo just beat Michael Noonan to the ball but his attempted back pass to Ransom was short.
With Nteziryayo desperately trying to claw Noonan back, the Irish forward calmly beat Ransom for the go-ahead goal.
Despite a 2-1 loss to Chile in the Group K finale Tuesday, Canada moved into the knockout round. All four teams finished at 1-1-1 with four points, leaving Canada second behind the French with Uganda third.
France defeated Colombia 2-0 earlier Friday while Uganda meets Senegal on Saturday.
Ireland (2-0-1) topped Group J, defeating Panama (4-1) and Uzbekistan (2-1) and drawing Paraguay (0-0).
Belgium lost 2-1 to Portugal while Mexico edged Argentina in a penalty shootout after a 2-2 draw earlier Friday in round-of 32 play.
The tournament runs through Nov. 27 across eight pitches at the Aspire Zone complex. The final will be staged at Khalifa International Stadium, which is also on the Aspire Zone site.
The Canadians booked their ticket to the World Cup in February, topping their five-team qualifying group — featuring host Bermuda, Anguilla, Curaçao and Turks and Caicos — with a perfect 4-0-0 record. They outscored their opposition 28-2, with both goals conceded coming from the penalty spot.
Ireland almost didn’t make it out of the first round of European qualifying, finishing level on points and goal difference with Lithuania but advancing on fair play ranking. The Irish then qualified by finishing runner-up to Belgium in their second-round group.