Head coach of the Ukrainian national team Sergei Rebrov summed up the results of the October selection for the 2026 World Cup, where the team won two victories, but again faced old problems. According to the coach, for more than a year the national team has been forced to play without an optimal composition due to constant injuries to key players.

Ukraine won against Iceland (5:3) and Azerbaijan (2:1), strengthening its chances of getting into the top 2 of its qualifying group. The return of Vitaly Mykolenko and Ruslan Malinovsky helped the team - the defender scored an assist, and the midfielder made four goals after a year break. However, even with this, Rebrov was not able to use all the leaders: Alexander Zinchenko missed the window, and Viktor Tsygankov has not appeared on the field for the national team since 2024.

The coach admitted that health problems have been plaguing the national team for the entire cycle. “We play almost all matches without a fighting strength - there are too many injuries. Four or five key players could not be used in these two games. It's hard to objectively evaluate a team's performance when you're missing half the base.. But I’m grateful to the guys: despite the losses, they brought us back into the fight,” Rebrov said on air in Suspilnya. Sport.

Since the beginning of 2024, the Ukrainian team has not been able to hold a single training camp without losses: Lunin, Zinchenko, Tsygankov, Mykolenko, Yarmolenko, Yaremchuk and others dropped out due to injuries. If we compare the bid for Euro 2024 with the current one, there are eleven changes, with the most losses in midfield.

Rebrov hopes that before the decisive matches in November against France and Iceland, the team leaders will have time to recover and get in shape. " Without them it’s difficult to claim stability,” the coach emphasized.