Lassana Diarra says France "deserve" their place at the World Cup finals after their controversial play-off against the Republic of Ireland.

The Real Madrid midfielder was part of the French team which gained a 1-1 draw on Wednesday night to give them a 2-1 aggregate win, and he cannot wait to play in South Africa next summer.

"My dream is there for me to play in the World Cup in Africa, my parents' continent," Diarra told skysports.com.

"It will be the best World Cup for me, I have watched World Cups on TV, now it is my time to show people that I can also play in the World Cup.

"My dream is to score a goal in the World Cup and win it with France.

"It will be difficult because teams in the World Cup are great teams but come June, we should be better and in good shape. We can definitely challenge and with a bit of luck you never know.

"Ireland was unlucky in the two games, but we deserve it because of our win in Dublin."