Dion Fanning: Ireland go home with pride, a point and a zipped mouth emoji  

31 July 2023; Katie McCabe of Republic of Ireland after the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 Group B match between Republic of Ireland and Nigeria at Brisbane Stadium in Brisbane, Australia. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

And so Ireland’s World Cup ended with another reminder of how little was needed for it all to be so different.

Their first World Cup campaign ended with a point and a clean sheet in a game where their opponents Nigeria were even more satisfied with this scoreless draw as they moved into the last 16.