What should I do if I have accepted an offer informally but am denied the job? This is a follow up to my other question. 

In November last year I accepted an informal offer of a position at a university outside my country of residence. Since then, I have in good faith withdrawn all my other applications and stopped applying elsewhere as I understood that my acceptance of the offer was binding. 

I have now applied for the job formally as they told me to. Recently I enquired about the status and according to them the evaluation of applications will be concluded next week and I was also told that I am in a very good position. 

I know now that I should avoid this kind of practice, but I am in it already, and what I fear finally comes. Does 'a very good position' mean that there is a possibility that I will not get the job? What should I do if it turns out that I do not get the job in the end? Can I even start applying for other jobs now or should I wait till next week? The problem is that my current contract ends this month and I have to leave the country next month. I have a family to feed and to provide a home for.



The following is added after the first two answers below are posted:

Although the position was not yet advertised before I accepted the offer, I had always thought that this was a real offer, since they already said things like they were looking forward to welcoming me in the group and that they would get in touch with me to finalise my contract (all this was said in writing). 

I guess my question is, is there nothing I can do with all the email correspondences in which the promise and my acceptance of the job were all recorded? From the answers already given below, it seems that there is nothing I could do with it except to learn not to make the same mistake again. But then, can the university just walk away like that? 

Of course all this is still hypothetical, and hopefully I still get the job as promised, but I would appreciate if someone who has been in the same situation could share his/her experience and how they dealt with it, just in case.



Update: The university in question has lived up to their promise and I have now been formally offered the position.
I think the other answer is decent, but OP seems to think that his/her question is not being addressed, so here goes:


  What should I do if I have accepted an offer informally but am denied the job?


Apply to other jobs, of course.


  Does 'a very good position' mean that there is a possibility that I will not get the job?


Anything is possible until you receive and accept a formal offer of employment.


  What should I do if it turns out that I do not get the job in the end?


Forget about that opportunity and start applying for other positions.


  Can I even start applying for other jobs now or should I wait till next week?


You can/should be applying/interviewing for other opportunities until you have obtained and accepted a formal offer.