Stephen Kenny made eight changes from the side that faced Luxembourg last Saturday. Bazunu, Coleman and O'Shea retain their places while Shane Duffy, Shane Long, Cyrus Christie, James McClean and Daryl Horgan came into the starting lineup.

Ireland started the game in a very positive fashion with Jeff Hendrick and Robbie Brady going close in the opening minutes. The latter saw an excellent one-touch pass from Daryl Horgan to Robbie Brady who struck an excellent shot on target with a volley but it was deflected for a corner.

The resulting corner saw Ireland open the scoring when a well-worked routine saw Daryl Horgan start the play with a quick one-two with Robbie Brady and Horgan passed the ball into McClean who hit a low effort past Mahoud Abunada to put Ireland in the lead.

Gavin Bazunu fouled Pedro just outside the area and while initially, the referee pointed to the spot, after consultation with his assistant referee he awarded a free-kick instead. Shane Long had an excellent chance to put Ireland further ahead however his effort was initially blocked by Basam Al Rawi and deflected wide by Saad Sheeb.

Qatar went close to an equaliser when a cross sent in by Pedro was met by Almoez Ali at the near post with a powerful header however it went wide of Gavin Bazunu’s post. Stephen Kenny was forced to make a change early with Troy Parrott coming into the game after twenty minutes.

Shane Long went close to making it two-nil when Cyrus Christie forced Basam Al Rawi into a short back pass that Shane Long latched onto the ball however it was saved well Sheeb. Hassan Al Haydos had an effort on goal that went wide from distance, Bazunu was outstretched to save but the ball was well wide of the far post.

Bazunu was called into action again in the closing minutes of the half as Mohammad Muntari was in an attacking position but Bazunu came off his line to clear the danger at the edge of his goal area.

Qatar drew level early in the second half when Qatar broke from midfield and the ball was fed to Mohammad Muntari who switched the ball onto his right foot and he scored with a well-taken effort.

Cyrus Christie had an effort saved by Sheeb after some clever link-up play from Seamus Coleman and Jason Molumby that set up the defender with a left-footed effort. Second-half substitute Callum Robinson had a shot on target after Jeff Hendrick maintained possession from a corner and he laid the ball to Robinson whose effort was well held by Sheeb.

Ireland continued to press with Jason Knight and Callum Robinson continuing to press forward for a winner. For Qatar, Mohammad Muntari received the ball on the edge of the area but his effort went over the bar.

Callum Robinson had a chance to score a late winner as the ball floated into him at the back post the strikers effort went just wide. Josh Cullen looked as if he had scored in the last minute of the game as a cross sent into him at the back post saw him diving at the ball with a well-placed header only for Sheeb to deny him.

Ireland’s next competitive action will take place in June before facing Portugal in September.

Qatar: Saad Sheeb, Pedro, Basam Al Rawi, Boualem Khoukhi, Kareq Salam, Adbuulkarim Hassan, Hassan Al Haydos (Salem Al Hajri 90), Karim, Boudiaf, Abdulaziz Hatim (Abdullah Al Ahrak 81), Mohammad Muntari (Youssef Adurisag 90), Almoez, Ali.
Substitutes: Mahoud Abunada, Salah Zakaria, Ahmed Suhail, Musaab Kheder, Assim Madebo, Ahmed Fathy, Homam Ahmed, Mohamed Waad, Ahmed Alaaeldin.

Ireland: Gavin Bazunu (GK), Shane Duffy, Séamus Coleman ©,Dara O'Shea, Jeff Hendrick (Alan Browne 83), Cyrus Christie, Robbie Brady (Troy Parrott 21), Daryl Horgan (Jason Knight 57), James McClean (Ryan Manning 83), Jayson Molumby (Joshua Cullen 83), Shane Long (Callum Robinson 57).
Substitutes: Ronan Curtis, James Collins, Ciaran Clark, Darragh Lenihan, Kieran O'Hara, Mark Travers.