Gavin Kilkenny played for 76 minutes but couldn’t prevent Republic of Ireland under-21s from falling to defeat against Italy.
The midfielder earned his 15th cap for Jim Crawford’s side as he started at Tallaght Stadium in south Dublin.
Ireland needed a win against the unbeaten Italians to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for the European Championships but found the visitors too strong.
Pisa’s Lorenzo Lucca opened the scoring after 30 minutes before Roma’s Matteo Cancellieri finished the game off in the 90th minute.
Kilkenny will next be in action on Monday when Ireland take on Sweden at the same location, but are now six points behind Italy in the play-offs spot.
Ryan Christie watched on from the stands as Scotland sealed a play-off place thanks to a two-goal win over Moldova.
The winger missed out through suspension but saw goals from Nathan Patterson and Che Adams enough to confirm second spot in Group F.
Christie will be available for Monday’s game against European Championship semi-finalists Denmark at Hampden Park, where a point should be enough to secure a home semi-final in the play-offs.
Orjan Nyland will be hoping to earn his 32nd cap for Norway when they take on Latvia in the World Cup qualifiers this afternoon.
The shot-stopper has enjoyed a revival in Norway’s goal recently and are sat only two points behind group leaders Netherlands with two games to play.
Meanwhile, Chris Mepham could be in action this evening when Wales welcome Belarus to Cardiff City Stadium.
The defender is a regular for Rob Page’s team and are in a battle with Czech Republic for second spot, albeit Belgium aren’t completely out of sight at the top of the group.
Finally, Ollie Camis could see action for Wales under-17s when they take on Portugal in a European qualifier.
The fixture will take place in Estadio Algarve Faro-Loule and follows on from a 3-1 win over Ukraine in Albufeira on Wednesday.
