Blast from the past: Alain Giresse says the Franch win over Ireland ahead of the 1982 World Cup was the stepping stone to greater things

France have developed a healthy respect for Ireland over the years, it's because they've learned from bitter experience.

Before last night, the French had lost three of their last eight competitive games against Ireland. The first of those was a 2-1 defeat in 1972 at Dalymount Park, almost 37 years to the day of the first play-off game.

The return match in Paris a year later finished in a 1-1 draw after Mick Martin scored a late equaliser. But given the current context, it was notable for another reason. Current French manager Raymond Domenech made his international debut at the age of 21 and, according to the French press, he endured "a difficult night" against Miah Dennehy.

Sports daily L'Equipe gave Domenech four out of 10 for his performance and Irish manager Liam Tuohy asked French journalists afterwards if their number two was only on the pitch to kick people.

In no small part because of those two games, France failed to reach the 1974 World Cup and in the following qualifying campaign they faced Ireland again. The French won the first group meeting of the sides in Paris and Christian Lopez captained the team that travelled to Lansdowne Road in March 1977.

"What I remember most is the context of the game," he told the Sunday Tribune. "It was in this stadium where they played rugby and football and there was a train that passed by one of the stands. I remember it like it was yesterday. This very windy stadium, a pitch that wasn't very good and an incredible atmosphere. We really struggled."

After 11 minutes, Liam Brady scored what proved to be the only goal of the match with an outrageous piece of skill. Chipping the ball between two French defenders, he continued his run and slotted home to give the Irish a famous victory in front of an estimated 48,000 supporters.

The next time the two sides met in Dublin in October 1981, around 55,000 people crammed into Lansdowne Road. Ireland had to win to stand a chance of qualifying for the following summer's World Cup in Spain and France, who had lost in Belgium the month before, would be in difficulty if they lost.

Bruno Bellone, best-known for scoring in the dying moments of France's 1984 European Championship final victory over Spain, made his debut that day. It was a tough game for a 19-year-old attacker to be thrown into, but after Ireland had gone into an early lead, he equalized on nine minutes.

"It was a match that we couldn't afford to lose, because otherwise we'd have to beat Holland and Cyprus at home," he recalls. "We were in a cauldron over there – it was crazy. Their team gave it everything for 90 minutes and as well as that they had some super players, like Brady and [Frank] Stapleton."

Last year, Bellone had the chance to revisit Lansdowne Road and he says it brought the memories flooding back. "The atmosphere was a bit like a rugby match. It's exactly the same principle – they get behind their team for 90 minutes. It's thanks to their fans that they came back to win that game. We got it back to 1-1 but their supporters really pushed them on and in the end they won 3-2."

Lopez, who was marking Frank Stapleton, recalls an awkward afternoon against a player who was both taller than him and better in the air. Stapleton scored Ireland's second goal and, viewed from the other end of the pitch Bellone has similar memories of the game. "With Stapleton up front, they played a lot of direct football. They played a lot of long balls and then with Liam Brady as their playmaker it worked well. Technically they were good too.

"They played it wide and put in a lot of crosses for Stapleton. We had real trouble dealing with that."

If Ireland have generally excelled against France at home, they haven't done too badly on their travels either. They may only have a friendly victory in 1937 and draws in 1973 and 2004 to show for it but, according to Liam Brady and other former internationals, they've also been on the wrong end of some big refereeing decisions in Paris.

In the 1976 World Cup qualifier Ireland lost 2-0, with Michel Platini scoring after half-time and Dominique Bathenay sealing the win at the death. "It wasn't easy because Dominique only scored a couple of minutes from the end," Lopez says. "The Irish never gave up. But it's in their nature to think that they can come back."

It was a similar story in 1980, when Ireland went down by the same scoreline and another late goal.

"The Irish gave us less reason to worry at the time than nowadays," says former Aston Villa forward Didier Six. "But they were good in the air and played quite well on the ground too, whatever anyone says about them. With Liam Brady, they had an outstanding player in their ranks. He was a bit like Platini."

After losing in Dublin the following year, France won their last two qualifiers and edged out Ireland on goal difference for a place in the 1982 World Cup. They went on to reach two World Cup semi-finals and won the European Championships that decade.

But Alain Giresse, who formed an electrifying midfield with Platini, Jean Tigana and Luis Fernandez, believes the future of French football would have been very different had they failed to recover from the 3-2 defeat at Lansdowne Road.

"We would have had an unremarkable life at international level and there wouldn't have been the fabulous World Cup in 1982 or the European Championship title in 1984," he told France Football. "There was a big rally and everyone united behind the French team. Today, it's make or break time for this generation."

On Wednesday night in Paris, Ireland once again stand in their way.