ZURICH — FIFA ruled out the possibility of replaying the disputed France-Ireland World Cup qualifier on Friday, rejecting an Irish appeal to stage the playoff again after Thierry Henry handled the ball to set up the deciding goal in extra time.

"In the reply, FIFA states that the result of the match cannot be changed and the match cannot be replayed," FIFA said in a statement. "As is clearly mentioned in the Laws of the Game, during matches, decisions are taken by the referee and these decisions are final."