In her wildest dreams, Julie Ann-Russell could scarcely have imagined how the last two games of Ireland's challenging Euro 2025 qualifying campaign would play out.

Called into the squad ahead of the concluding games with England and France, the 33-year-old had thought her international days were behind her after spending time out of the game on maternity leave.

Her form for Galway prompted Eileen Gleeson to recall the 60-cap stalwart after a four-year absence and, having found the back of the net after her introduction against England, she was handed a starting berth against France at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

A livewire throughout, she scored a sensational individual goal to add to Denise O’Sullivan’s opener as the hosts marched to a 3-1 victory over the world No 2-ranked side.

Russell collected the player of the match award with daughter Rosie in her arms and admitted the enormity of the last week is barely sinking in.

"I can’t believe it. What a game, it was incredible," she told RTÉ Sport.

"It's so surreal. I'm just so happy. Both the goals are for Rosie. Hopefully we can inspire other mums and keep the game growing."

Russell spurned one opportunity in the first half but while it was goalless at the break, she felt her team gave as good as they got against a French side that showed 11 changes from their last outing against Sweden.

"We had a few chances in the first half. I was guilty myself, I should have kept going, but I thought we pressed well and created chances," she said.

"In the second half we went out again with that mentality."

We need your consent to load this comcast-player contentWe use comcast-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences

The goal was the icing on the cake, cutting inside substitute Elisa De Almeida from the ball over the top, her left-footed curling effort giving goalkeeper Constance Picaud no chance.

"The ball went over the top and I just went for it," she said. "I took it across her and went for it with my left foot. Seeing it go in, it was just so surreal.

"To celebrate here with all my family – my dad is from Cork and I’ve loads of relations here – was unbelievable.

"Oh my God (the fans) were absolutely unbelievable. I think we need to have more games in Cork after that. What a crowd, for a Tuesday evening, I heard 18,000 or something. It's a credit to Cork. They produce so many amazing footballers, let’s just keep this momentum going."

Baby Rosie has certainly made her mark this week. A hugely popular presence among the rest of the squad, she's also proved to be a lucky charm.

"She just turned one there a couple of weeks ago," beamed Russell. "I never thought I'd be playing again for Ireland again to be honest so to get that call from Eileen was amazing. I can’t really describe the feeling. It just seems like it’s all a dream at the moment to be honest. I think I need a few days to reflect and to take it all in. I’m just so proud. I’m buzzing.

"I think we’ll bring her with us if we go (to the Euros). She’s the camp baby now, so we’ll see."

Nice moment when everyone did the Rosie celebration?

"Yeah it’s going to be iconic now I think! It’s brilliant. We’ve been messing doing it all week. To get another goal and to be able to do it again was special."