Former defender of Kyiv’s Dynamo and the Ukrainian national team, Vladyslav Vashchuk, shared his thoughts on the World Cup 2026 qualifier match France — Ukraine (4:0).
Vladyslav Vashchuk— I don’t know what to say. There’s too much criticism, everyone says something, but there’s no actual game. I can’t say much more.
— How do you evaluate the decision to play the French with a semi-reserve team?
— When we played, that wasn’t the case. Reserve, not reserve... When there was selection, we probably played all games with the same squad. The Ukrainian Championship, the Cup, the national team, the Champions League — all with the same line-up.
Today these things are unclear to me. UEFA does such things, playing every other day... Today UEFA and FIFA use players for their purposes. It’s very bad.
— How do you, as a defender, comment on the two similar episodes at the start of the second half — first, the clash between Ocheretko and Upamecano in the French penalty area, and a few minutes later, Mykhailko’s foul on Olise in Ukraine’s penalty area?
— Regarding the first, many say there was a straight leg. Well yes, if you look at VAR. But first of all, it’s the referee’s decision. If he didn’t call it, then in his opinion, there wasn’t one.
As for the penalty against us, it was clearly visible that Mykhailko stepped on him. So you might not even need to review VAR. Overall, it’s carelessness, I don’t know.
— Until the first goal, Ukraine managed the task primarily not to concede. Can we say that after the goal, the team didn’t know what to do next?
— No, well it was hard to come back after the first goal. Because even before conceding, they held the defense and played, hoping the game would somehow change, but it headed to a logical conclusion. And that’s what happened. Beyond that, there’s nothing.
— Will the heavy and thus painful defeat against France hinder preparation for the decisive match against Iceland?
— No, because everything was aimed at beating the Icelanders. I’m more concerned about Zabarniy, that he manages to switch. There is a lot of responsibility on him now as the team leader. There is psychological pressure, and we want him to overcome it.
Olexiy Oleksandrov
