With the Socceroos having a better goal difference, Saudi Arabia need to win Tuesday’s encounter against Tony Popovic’s side by five clear goals - a result which Renard feels his players must strive for.

"The conditions must be very good for us to qualify. The door is almost closed, but we must try to qualify.

"In football, you have to be effective. Today, we had many chances, just like in the match against China (PR), and we didn't score,” said Renard. 

The Frenchman, in his second stint as Saudi Arabia’s head coach, admitted that his players were affected by Australia’s 1-0 win against Japan earlier on Thursday. 

“They were certainly influenced by the Japan-Australia result but this is football. There is no point in discussing that now. We have to focus on Tuesday's match to qualify.”

Defeat meant elimination for Bahrain, a scenario they would not have expected after having opened their campaign with victory against Australia with head coach Dragan Talajic apologising for not being able to take them through to an inaugural FIFA World Cup appearance.

"I apologise to the fans for losing their dream of qualifying for the World Cup. I am proud of all the players. We didn't play defensive football, especially in the second half where we created four or five chances.”

Bahrain end their campaign against China PR on Tuesday.