To your attention is the transcript of the press conference with the head coach of Ukraine's national team, Sergiy Rebrov, following the semi-final playoff match against Sweden in the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup (1-3) (1:3).

— Do you consider today's result shameful for Ukraine's national team?

— We lost the game, we lost the playoff, we lost a strong opponent. To win such matches, each player needs to show their maximum. Unfortunately, we did not demonstrate this today. We gave up. Is it shameful? Probably, for fans — yes. We did our job: both players and coaching staff. Unfortunately, that's football.

— On the 66th minute there was a moment when a Swedish player got injured. It seemed like this could be an opportunity to change something, give instructions. But at that moment the players were standing separately, and you were not on the technical bench. Did you still believe that the game could be turned around?

— I always believe that everything can be changed. I gave instructions to the players and made substitutions. I think the players responded on the field — in the second half they tried to create more chances, put more pressure on the penalty area. We wanted to do this, but Sweden's team played with three central defenders today. Such tight defense is always hard to break through, our players had a tough time finding open spaces.

— Today there was a sense of deja vu after the match against Romania. We lost goals in the first and second half again. Although chances were there: for Zubkov before Dijkers came out on his own, for Tsiganov shortly before the goal. Why did the team lose focus at the start of each half? And was Dijkers, who showed his class, a key factor in the defeat?

— I think Dijkers today demonstrated why he plays for Arsenal and is one of the best strikers in the world. As I said before: if you want to win such playoff matches, you need to show your maximum. Unfortunately, as a team, we did not do that today. I don't want to single anyone out, we all lost together.

Regarding the start of each half — these were tactical mistakes. We just watched the first goal: there was a tactical error, we did not react to the open man behind the penalty area. At such a level it's very hard to compete when your opponent has players with top-level skills who punish you for even minor mistakes.

— It's hard to look into the future now, but if we analyze the path of this team over the last few months, do you have optimism about this national team?

— Don't we have one of the youngest teams in Europe — even at Euro last year we were leading by this metric. I see the future of these players and am confident that there is a great perspective for the team. But it takes time, more games, and experience.

— Today's defense line suffered heavily: many problems with Timychka, two key errors by Zabarko, although Illia tried to be a leader. It also seemed that there were issues with exiting from the first third of the field, which I advised Ivan Kaluzhny about. The second question is: will the team gain experience together with you?

— Regarding Ivan: he's a player who creates balance and is very active in possession. But, in my opinion, he should be closer to the defenders, which I advised him about. Georgiy and Yevhen should have been higher up, instead we were too often low down, while Ivan was too high.

Regarding my future: the contract ends soon. So far, no proposals from UAF. When the contract expires (in two months), everyone will find out.

— Why did you substitute Yaremchuk for Vana at 60 minutes instead of playing them both as a pair up front?

— We switched to two strikers play after 15 minutes. I knew there was Matviy Ponomarenko on the bench. If we couldn't break through with one forward, we planned to bring in Matviy, which we did.

— Fans want to hear: are you going or staying?

— I don't know if this is important for all fans, only for you. I repeat: the contract ends soon, no proposals so far. What can I tell you?

— So you're not going into retirement now?

— I have one more game.

— Did you talk to the team after the match? What's the mood in the dressing room?

— The mood is the same as among fans and me. We lost a very important match, and I'm sad no less than anyone else. In the dressing room now it's quiet — nobody talks. Everyone understands that we've lost a great chance for Ukraine.