The Republic of Ireland men's U17s team have qualified for the FIFA World Cup for the very first time this Tuesday.
Colin O'Brien has led his team to the finals, which will take place in Qatar later this year, after they navigated their Elite Phase group featuring Belgium, Poland and, on Tuesday, Iceland.
The decisive nature of their emphatic 5-0 win over Iceland cemented Ireland's place as the front-running group runner-up, and their position now means they cannot be caught as one of the four best runners-up, and are thus assured of qualification to the finals.
READ HERE: Roy Keane Took Ian Wright By Surprise With Telling England Jab
READ HERE: Adam Idah Reveals Reason Behind "Shush" Celebration After Bulgaria Winner
Ireland U17s qualify for 2025 FIFA World Cup
Ireland's qualifying endeavours began last Wednesday with a tight 1-0 defeat to Belgium. The Boys in Green immediately bounced back with a 2-0 win against Poland, the hosts of their qualification, in a game marred by an alleged "racist remark" toward an Irish player.
Belgium's concurrent win over Iceland meant that they secured qualification for this summer's U17 Euros in Albania, but Ireland still stood a chance of reaching the World Cup in Qatar.
The Elite Phase qualifying groups serve to decide spots both at the Euros and at the World Cup. The seven group winners qualify for both tournaments, while the four best-ranked runners-up join them at the World Cup.
With their 5-0 victory over Iceland on Tuesday, Ireland moved into the ascendancy in the runner-up rankings.
Though there are still games to play, Ireland are now guaranteed to be among the four strongest runners-up, thanks to Portugal beating Serbia and Finland beating Denmark in two of the later games on Tuesday afternoon.
There are three groups still to be played out but, crucially, Ireland can now only be surpassed by three teams, meaning they are guaranteed at worst to finish in fourth in the rankings of group runners-up.
It is an immense achievement for manager Colin O'Brien and his team, who came through a Round 1 qualifying group featuring Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Lithuania.
The 48-team finals will take place in Qatar from the 3rd to 27th of November and, for the first time, an U17 World Cup will feature Ireland.
Massive congratulations to all involved.
SEE ALSO: Carla Ward Reveals Role She Played In Bringing Ruesha Littlejohn To LOI
