Stephen Kenny is hoping a packed Aviva Stadium can drive his team to a shock victory over the Netherlands on Sunday with the Republic of Ireland's chances of finishing second in Group B now hanging by a thread.
France are running away with it having notched five wins from five. Their 2-0 defeat of the Boys in Green tonight was a deserved and comfortable victory.
Ireland are fourth in the five-team table, but if they can turn over the Dutch, they'll be level on points with them and the Greeks, albeit having played more games than both.
Anything less than three points will, realistically, leave the Boys in Green banking on their Nations League showing being enough to get them into the play-offs, though they'll be counting on a myriad of permutations going their way.
Still, Kenny is keeping the faith.
"Holland beating Greece tonight means that if we beat Holland on Sunday we're all level, the three of us are level in relation to second place," the manager told RTÉ Sport.
"We've Greece to come at home in October and Gibraltar away, so it is a big game, we do need a victory.
"It won't be easy... but we've won three of our last four competitive games at home. At home, since Covid has finished and we've been able to get full capacity crowds, all our crowds are sellouts no matter who we're playing, but particularly for Holland now on Sunday. The crowd give the players energy."
He admitted France were simply too good in Paris, adding: "France might be the best team in the world, they're one of the best two teams in the world. They have really cutting edge players like Kylian Mbappe, Griezmann and Dembele who have exceptional pace in the team.
"They didn't create many chances in the first half, that was the disappointing thing, to concede the goal after 19 minutes. It was a great strike but to concede a second straight after half-time gave us a real upward hill to climb.
"The thing about today was, we could have lost convincingly, but the players never gave in. They absolutely gave everything of themselves. No matter who we've played, all the top teams, it's the first time we've ever been beaten by more than a goal.
"It's not something we're sort of proud of, I'm just saying, the players weren't going to give a goal up easily. They put their bodies on the line. We had a couple of chances, Chiedozie Ogbene with a header and his left-foot shot, and Shane Duffy's header, but not enough. They were too good for us. They are a really good team."
Enda Stevens was withdrawn at half-time and Will Keane came off just ten minutes after being introduced off the bench. Both have been added to a considerable injury list.
"Enda looks like a calf injury and Will an abductor so we'll have to see," said Kenny.
"It wouldn't be looking good for either of them in short proximity of course. We've got to consider that and see what we add to the squad, who we add ahead of Sunday, which is a massive game for us."
