IRELAND have qualified for the first Under-17 World Cup - despite missing out on the European Championships. A 5-0 win over Iceland was enough to see Colin O’Brien’s side reach the finals, in Qatar later this year, as one of the four best-placed runners-up. They had only sneaked into the elite round of the Euro qualifiers on the basis of having fewer yellow cards than Lithuania after the sides were level on points, goal difference and goals scored. And things looked bleak when they lost to Belgium 1-0 last Wednesday but they bounced back with a 2-0 victory over Poland before comprehensively beating Iceland. O’Brien beamed: “We came here with the belief that we could qualify for the Euros. “We knew there was a double prize at stake, and while we’re disappointed to not get to the European Championships, to reach a World Cup is an amazing achievement for the players and the staff. "It’s a great achievement for our country. “We knew the group would be tight and the squad of players is in a better place than they were in October. “I had a good feeling we’d compete for top spot, the defining moment in the Belgium game was their penalty. "But I feel we deserved to get to a World Cup. “To get there is a reflection of the monumental effort from the players and staff over the last 11 days. “Me and the staff always drill into the players that it’s all about getting through the first phase of qualifiers. It’s about putting yourself in the position to reach a finals and we did that in October. “Every game this week, the players performed exceptionally and they were hurting they didn’t win against Belgium and that was a positive sign. "We beat Poland in Poland convincingly and put in a five-star performance against Iceland. “There are very good players up and down this country who work with exceptional coaches. "This is a great news story for Irish football and it’s a great day for every person involved with the players’ development and they should take pride that they helped them reach a World Cup. “No matter the age group, the World Cup is a huge event that captures the imagination and attention of the public. “It shows that when you’re a small country a lot of it comes down to mentality and we knew within the group our mindset was at another level and we had the quality to go with that. "That gave us a chance which the boys went on to accomplish.” Jaden Umeh put Ireland ahead in the 14th minute with Billy Canny making it 2-0 before half-time. Umeh got a second before Finn Sherlock converted a penalty with Charles Akinrintayo completing the rout.