Canada suffered a painful exit from the FIFA Under-17 World Cup on Friday, losing a marathon 10-round penalty shootout to tournament debutants Ireland in a round of 16 game.
Irish goalkeeper Alex Noonan made a one-handed save to deny Canadian defender Elijah Roche a 9-8 penalty shootout win.
Canada scored late to tie the game 1-1 and force a penalty.
Noonan saved Canada's first penalty from Kevin Hahn, while Canadian goalkeeper Jonathan Ransom stopped OisÃn McDonagh as Ireland led 4–3, denying the Irish victory – at least temporarily.
Dylan Judelson then converted his shot to continue the shootout. Four more Canadians scored before Noonan completed the scoring.
Marius Ayenero, Sergei Kozlovsky, Van Parker, Aguilas Sadek, Johnny Selemani, Sahil Deo and Josh Nteziryayo also scored for Canada in the penalty shootout.
Michael Noonan, Finn Sherlock, Jayden Ume, Vinnie Leonard, Cian McMahon-Brown, Rory Finneran, Victor Ojianwuna, Grady McDonnell and Ryan Butler scored for Ireland from the penalty spot.
Canada is eliminated from the tournament after a strong showing in the tournament. He had gone winless in his previous eight matches, posting a dismal 0-20-4 record.
The Irish will meet Switzerland, who won the tournament in 2009 in their only other appearance, in the round of 16. The unbeaten Swiss, who top Group F with a 2-0-1 record, beat Egypt 3-1 earlier on Friday.
Canada equalized in the 85th minute
Kozlovskiy pulled Canada even in the 85th minute with an elegant right-footed volley from outside the box after Ireland failed to deal with a throw-in. Kozlovsky, who entered the field in the 76th minute, made his first appearance in the tournament.
The 17-year-old defender joined Atlético Ottawa of the CPL in March on a contract with exceptional young talent from the CF Montreal youth academy, where he has featured for the club's U-15, U-17 and U-18 teams since joining in 2022.
Ienero had a chance to win it for Canada in stoppage time but was denied by the Irish goalkeeper.
Ireland broke the deadlock in the 65th minute after the Canadian defense was broken by Leonard's long ball. Ntheziryayo just picked off Michael Noonan but his attempted pass back to Ransom was short.
As Nteziryayo desperately tried to get Noonan back, the Irish forward calmly beat Ransom to score.
Noonan was shortlisted for the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) Irish Young Player of the Year after helping Shamrock Rovers win the league.
In February, he became the youngest goalscorer in UEFA Conference League history when, aged 16 years 197 days, he scored for Shamrock Rovers in a 1-0 win over Norwegian side Molde.
There was drama in stoppage time when South African referee Jelly Chavani went to the pitchside monitor to check for a possible penalty against Canada. But he rejected Ireland's appeal.
Canada outscored Ireland 5-4 in the first half, with both teams having two shots on target.
Despite a 2-1 loss to Chile in the Group K final on Tuesday, Canada advanced to the playoffs. All four teams finished 1-1-1 with four points, leaving Canada second behind France and Uganda third.
France beat Colombia 2-0 earlier on Friday and Uganda will face Senegal on Saturday.
Ireland (2-0-1) topped Group J with wins over Panama (4-1) and Uzbekistan (2-1) and a draw with Paraguay (0-0).
Belgium lost 2-1 to Portugal and Mexico beat Argentina on penalties after a 2-2 draw earlier on Friday in the round of 16 game.
The tournament will last until November 27 on eight fields of the Aspire Zone complex. The final will take place at the Khalifa International Stadium, which is also located within the Aspire Zone.
Canada coach Mike Vitulano made one change to his starting lineup: Aidan Evans replaced Jonny Selemani.
McDonell, a former Vancouver Whitecaps academy member and Vancouver FC player, started in the Irish midfield.
In January, Vancouver sold the then 16-year-old McDonnell to Belgium's Club Brugge for the second-highest transfer fee in CPL history at the time. He signed with the CPL team in January 2024 when he was 15 years old.
McDonnell was born in Surrey, British Columbia, but is eligible to represent Ireland because his father has Irish ancestry. He also played four games for Canada at the CONCACAF Under-15 Championship in the Dominican Republic in August 2023.
The Canadians booked their berth at the World Cup in February by topping their five-team qualifying group, which includes hosts Bermuda, Anguilla, Curacao and Turks and Caicos, with a perfect 4-0-0 record. They beat their opponents 28:2, with both goals coming from penalties.
Ireland barely made it out of the first round of European qualifying, finishing level with Lithuania on points and goal difference but moving up on the fair play rankings. The Irish then qualified by finishing second to Belgium in their second round group.
