Volodymyr Kovaliuk: «In the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, our national team struggled rather than played football»

Former Dynamo Kyiv player Volodymyr Kovaliuk commented on Ukraine’s national team games in November.

Volodymyr Kovaliuk

— Serhiy Rebrov fielded an experimental lineup against the French national team, leaving many key players on the bench. As a result, the Ukrainian national team was disastrously defeated, not making a single shot during the match. However, for the game against Iceland, the coach put in eight players who were not in the starting lineup against the French. This worked. Ukrainians simply outpaced the Icelanders, who had spent too much energy in Azerbaijan. With the victory over the Icelandic team, Rebrov essentially saved himself from dismissal. If we had not won, it would have been a major football catastrophe. And believe me, all his failures would have been remembered.

If we analyze all six matches, our national team struggled rather than played football. It deserved a rating of «three» on a five-point scale. Ukrainians just scrapped their victories but did not show any impressive play. It is surprising because Serhiy Rebrov has been coaching the national team for 2.5 years, yet the quality of play is lacking, especially in attack. We are more observing how the opponent plays rather than enjoying the national team’s matches. And this is despite the fact that Rebrov has very strong players at his disposal. A significantly stronger national team needs to be molded from these players, — said the expert.