Switzerland held off Northern Ireland to seal a place at the 2018 World Cup in Russia with a 0-0 second-leg draw on Sunday that secured a 1-0 aggregate play-off victory.
Vladimir Petkovic’s side wasted numerous first-half chances as the Northern Irish stayed in the tie, but Ricardo Rodriguez’s controversial first-leg penalty in Belfast proved enough for the Swiss to reach their fourth consecutive World Cup.
Northern Ireland fell short in their bid to reach a first finals since 1986.

Away manager Michael O’Neill replaced Kyle Lafferty up front with Queens Park Rangers striker Conor Washington, while the hosts named an unchanged starting XI.
With heavy rain leaving the St Jakob-Park pitch in bad condition, Northern Ireland started strongly.
Chris Brunt brought a good save from Yann Sommer with a swerving long-range strike in only the third minute, before Stuart Dallas fired over from the resulting corner.
In a high-tempo opening to the game, Haris Seferovic should have doubled the hosts’ aggregate lead but headed Xherdan Shaqiri’s vicious cross past the far post.
Switzerland continued to push for a crucial opening goal, but Gareth McAuley did well to help Blerim Dzemaili’s shot over the crossbar, and Benfica striker Seferovic again headed a Shaqiri delivery off target.