'It's unbelievable' - Alex Noonan the hero in dramatic shootout as Ireland progress to U17 World Cup last-16
INTO THE LAST 16: Republic of Ireland players celebrate their 9-8 penalty shoot-out victory. Pic: Nikola Krstic/Sportsfile.
A nation held its breath and Alex Noonan produced the save that sent the Republic of Ireland into the last 16 of the World Cup with a 9-8 penalty shootout victory over Canada on Friday.
After Michael Noonan’s second-half finish was cancelled out by Sergei Kozlovskiy late on, the match had to be decided by penalties on pitch four of the Aspire Zone in Doha, Qatar.
And after Oisin McDonagh squandered the chance to win it, Alex Noonan eventually proved to be the hero, stopping Elijah Roche’s spot kick to send Ireland through to a last 16 meeting with Switzerland.
Full time scenes! We’re into the last 16 🇮🇪🙌🙌 pic.twitter.com/ca9ootQJA4
— Ireland Football ⚽️🇮🇪 (@IrelandFootball) November 14, 2025
"It's unbelievable," said the Ireland goalkeeper, who was next in line to take a penalty.
It's a great feeling, especially doing it in front of your family and all your friends watching at home.
"You have to have a really strong mentality when you concede late you could put your head down. You could sulk or moan, but the lads did the complete opposite. The mentality tonight was very good. I had full confidence in the lads to get the job done.
“We'll enjoy tonight but tomorrow we will reset, move on and get ready for the next game."
Ireland started brightly and shortly after Michael Noonan’s free kick curled just wide of the near post, brushing against the side-netting leading to many of the Irish fans in attendance thinking it had gone in, he saw the young Boys in Greens best opening saved by the keeper.
Canada soon grew into the game and cancelled out their opponents, although they did force Alex Noonan into a save but he comfortably tipped Sahil Deo’s swerving shot from the edge of the penalty area over his crossbar.
Ireland regrouped during the break, and they twice went close to scoring just shy of the hour but Martos’ low drive from Solanke’s long throw was saved by the feet of Ransom before the Canadian number one denied Butler’s header from Umeh’s cross to the back post.
Then came a significant few minutes in the match. A mistake from Ireland defender Vinnie Leonard was pounced upon by Van Parker but he was bailed out by a superb block from Oisin McDonagh that stop the attacker’s goal-bound effort.
But Josh Nteziryayo wasn’t so fortunate as after Michael Noonan raced onto his loose back pass, the Shamrock Rovers forward made him pay by clipping the ball past the shot-stopper and into the back of his net.
Umeh almost made it 2-0 in the 75th minute but his powerful strike was stopped by Ransom before Alex Noonan produce a stunning save to turn Kevin Khan's thunderous volley over.
But Noonan would be beaten with just five minutes remaining as a long throw-in eventually made its way to Kozlovskiy and his controlled volley bounced through the crowd before nestling in the bottom right corner.
Then injury time, Ireland handed a Football Video Support card – a new initiative being trialled at this tournament - to the fourth official so the referee could review their penalty appeal on the VAR monitor, but it came to nothing.
So the game went straight to a shoot-out where Alex Noonan emerged as the hero, although he was made to wait to celebrate as Canada used their own FVS card to see if he had moved too early off his line in making the decisive save.
Alex Noonan; McDonagh, Leonard, Butler, Solanke (Sherlock 82); Finneran, McDonnell, Martos (McMahon-Brown 71); Michael Noonan, Umeh, Ozhianvuna.
Ransom: Deo, Nteziryayo, Chukwu (Kozlovskiy 76), Roche; Judelson, Khan, Fortier (Sadek 76); Jimoh (Selemani 62), Evans (Aiyenero 62), Parker.
Jelly Chavani (South Africa).
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