The 29-year-old started the season as a huge outsider to even make the French squad, but a wonderful campaign for West Ham convinced Didier Deschamps to bring him back into the fold.
Payet repaid him in spades with a brilliant display in Paris, helping a nervy French team to all three points.
His cross set up Olivier Giroud for the first goal just before the hour, only for Romania hit back from the spot through Bogdan Stancu.
But just as France looked set to have to settle for a point, Payet produced a thunderbolt from outside the box with his left foot, shortly before leaving the pitch in tears of joy to a standing ovation as an injury-time substitution.
He said: "There was a lot of stress and a lot of pressure. The emotion came out with that goal.
"If a year ago you had told me that it would go like this I wouldn't have believed you. That is what came out when I scored.
"We knew it would be very difficult. The first quarter of an hour showed us that. After that we got into it.
"We came up against a team that defended well. There was always a foot to stop us scoring.
"But we showed in our warm-up games that we know how to go and get victories.
"The crowd really helped us. We will be able to work calmly for the matches coming up."
Source: Sportsbeat
