Dutch win gives Republic of Ireland confidence for France

Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan believes their 3-2 win over Netherlands showed they can "put in performances against big nations" as they prepare for a winner takes all game against France in their final group game.

Carla Ward's side are aiming to reach a second successive Women's World Cup and have already secured a seeded play-off place in the autumn for next year's tournament in Brazil.

But a victory over France in Grenoble would see them top Group A2 and qualify automatically for the tournament, with Brosnan upbeat about her side's chances of beating Les Bleues after their shock win in Cork over the Dutch on Friday.

"Getting the win against Netherlands was massive for us and gives us the confidence we can put in the performances against big nations," she said.

"League A is where you want to be but being in League A, the quality of the teams is right at the top. It's been unbelievable what we've been able to do to be in this position."

Brosnan makes a return to a country she used to call home for the crunch encounter.

The 30-year-old spent time in France with Ambilly and Le Harve early in her career and believes those spells helped her to develop on and off the pitch.

"It was a big step in my journey going from playing at university to leaving home for the first time, moving to a new country where you don't speak the language. It was really scary and I was a different person than I am now," she explained.

"It helped me develop, I made a lot of great friends and improved as a footballer and then made the move to England. I look back on it with really fond memories and it challenged me in a lot of ways."

Brosnan, who has since established herself as Everton's first-choice goalkeeper in the WSL, saved a penalty when Republic of Ireland beat Scotland 1-0 in a play-off in 2022 to qualify for the 2023 World Cup.

She believes the experience of that game and the tournament that followed in Australia and New Zealand made the current Irish squad believe that they could get back to the biggest stage, even when they lost their opening two games in the group.

"Having had the experience and having been through it, it helps going into it again so I think the squad as a whole has been unbelievable, to see the buy-in and belief in what we want to achieve.

"I think we've always had it but it has only continued to grow stronger which has really helped us in this campaign and will hopefully help on Tuesday."