French playmaker Zinedine Zidane was frustrated as his side conceded a goal in the late minutes for a 1-1 draw against South Korea here on Sunday.
With two draws, the 1998 champions will have to beat Togo by two clear goals to make the last 16 and to avoid the early exit from the 2002 World Cup where they even failed to find a single goal.
After Thierry Henry netted an early opener in the ninth minute to give France their first goal since Emmanuel Petit's 1998 final win over Brazil, Patrick Vieira had his goal ruled out for not crossing the line, before South Korea's Park Ji-sung level it in the 81st minute.
"It should have been 2-0 for us," complained Zidane, who will miss their last group match, and probable his last match of the tournament, after being booked for the second time, on the day of his 34th birthday on Friday against Togo.
"It's true in the second half we lost our way rather, we stopped pressuring them and doing what we had been in the first half as physically we were a bit off.
"A second goal would have done us good and without it we were never safe from conceding one. Now we will have to suffer right to the end and win the third match (agaimnst Togo) to qualify.
"However, our destiny is in our own hands."