Ukraine's VALORANT national team coach, Ivan "Johnta" Shevtsov, shared his thoughts after the conclusion of the Esports Nations Cup 2026 qualifiers, where his team failed to secure a spot at the tournament.
Shevtsov noted that the team lacked experience and composure in the match against Hungary. He also pointed to physical and emotional exhaustion during the third map against the Czech Republic due to the packed schedule. Fatigue ultimately led to simple mistakes in situations that should have been converted into wins.
"Unfortunately, we fall just one step short of qualifying for the World Championship.
We tried our absolute best, but unfortunately, we lacked experience and composure in the match against Hungary. And when it came to closing out the series against the Czech Republic, there was simply no energy left on the third map with such a schedule, no matter how hard the guys tried.
The motivation was there, but fatigue resulted in simple mistakes and losing situations that should have been won.
The last two weeks were extremely challenging as we prepared simultaneously for the ENC East Europe qualifiers with the national team and for Challengers EMEA: Stage 3 with NAVI Junior.
This was especially difficult for Kolosha, Javelin, and myself.
It's disappointing that we didn't achieve the final result, but I am proud of the work we put in.
Even though the defeat is very painful, I am certain that such valuable experience will prove extremely important for each of the players.
We gave it everything we had. Thank you all for your support and for cheering us on."
On June 28, Ukraine played two matches for a place at ENC 2026 but lost to Hungary (1-2) and the Czech Republic (1-2).
As a reminder, Monster Hunter World surpassed 30 million copies sold and became Capcom's most successful game.