Academy defender Callum O'Connor represented Ireland for the first time in a competitive international, as the Republic of Ireland Under-19s lost their opening UEFA Championship Elite qualifier 1-0 to Belgium on Friday night.

With Aaron Doran suspended, O'Connor was joined by team-mates Gavin Gunning and Gearoid Morrissey in Sean McCaffrey's starting XI.

However, the Rovers trio, who played the full 90 minutes, were powerless to prevent Belgium's Eden Hazard scoring the only goal of the game shortly before the break, to give the hosts a deserved win.

Ireland now go into Sunday's crunch match with Switzerland needing a favourable result to keep them in the hunt for next month's finals in Ukraine.