A late Fabian Rohner strike was enough to sink 10 man Hearts and send FC Zurich into the Europa League group stages.
Hearts were aiming to overturn a 2-1 first leg deficit in front of a sold out Tynecastle.
Under the Thursday night lights, the Gorgie faithful were looking to roar their team on to the second tier of European competition for the first time since 2005.
Manager Robbie Neilson brought back key stars Craig Gordon, Lawrence Shankland and Barrie Mckay after resting the trio against Celtic on Sunday.
The men in maroon certainly looked the fresher of the two sides as they had the best of the opening half hour.
It took just three minutes for Barrie Mckay to slip a clever through ball to Liam Boyce, only for the Northern Irishman to scuff his shot.
On the 14 minute mark Alan Forrest cultivated the first real chance, as he cut in from the right wing and stung the palms of Zurich goalkeeper Yanick Brecher.
Forrest then found himself with another chance 10 minutes before half time, however he seen his close range shot blocked.
Minutes later Liam Boyce had the home crowd pulses racing as he met a perfectly placed Forrest cross, only for the ball to bounce agonizingly over the bar from his header.
Hearts came out in the second half with the same energy, having went in at the break 0-0.
Disaster soon struck however with midfielder Jorge Grant being sent off after receiving a 2nd yellow card for diving.
Despite having a man disadvantage, Hearts rallied well even when goalkeeper Craig Gordon was struck with a missile from the away section just after the hour mark.
The Swiss pressure finally told in the 81st minute though, as Fabian Rohner came off the bench and rifled home past the Hearts captain via a deflection from fellow substitute Toby Sibbick.
After opening up a two goal aggregate advantage, the Swiss champions looked comfortable as they progressed to the UEFA Europa League group stages whilst Hearts drop into the Conference League.
