FUT fell short in the Esports World Cup 2026 Grand Final in Paris, suffering a 3-1 series defeat to Spirit. Despite a strong effort that pushed the tournament favorites to their limits on multiple maps, the roster could not secure the trophy. Following the match, FUT sniper Mykyta “cmtry” Samolotov spoke openly about his individual performance and the challenges of playing in a high-stakes arena environment.
Struggling under Grand Final pressure
FUT has built a reputation over the past year as a highly homogeneous roster. The team operates without a traditional star player, with every member maintaining a rating of 1.00 or above. However, cmtry has statistically been the lowest-rated player on the squad over the past 12 months, an unusual dynamic for a primary AWPer in modern Counter-Strike. In the final against Spirit, the sniper felt his individual shortcomings heavily impacted the outcome.
It was a bit hard for us to close the games,” cmtry explained. “It was a fine chance to close the game on Anubis and on Ancient, but we choked some rounds on a side. I missed a lot today, which messed up a lot of rounds for us, and we couldn’t close it. It’s just all about the pressure. It was a bit hard to play. I was not in shape today.
Late-round chaos in Paris
The final was marked by several tight 2v2 situations and late-round clutches that ultimately swung in Spirit’s favor. When asked about the communication during these tense moments, cmtry highlighted the overwhelming nature of the stage experience.
It was chaos,” cmtry said. “For us, it’s the first time experience on these stages. It was so hard to play because everyone felt something, everyone had their thoughts in the mind. In these clutches, it was chaos. Arena screaming, fear, saying info nonstop, and it was just 50/50 either we kill or they kill us. I think they were a bit better in clutches in rounds like this, so they could win important situations.
Exceeding tournament expectations
Despite the tough conclusion to their run in Paris, the FUT roster leaves the tournament having surpassed their own goals. The team secured a map win in the final and fought closely on Anubis and Ancient, proving their resilience on the main stage.
I think we showed our best,” cmtry stated. “We were fighting with every team until the end. Even on Nuke, we won a T pistol. We were still screaming, hyping each other, and we were trying to show our best. I think second place for us is a really good result because my expectations were maximum at the quarterfinals. To be in the grand final for such a young team, I’m really proud of my team and we won’t stop.
Moving forward, FUT plans to analyze the matches to refine their gameplay. However, cmtry believes the final loss came down more to unforced errors and missed opportunities than structural flaws.
We watch every game, even if we lose or win, to find our mistakes and try to fix them as soon as possible,” he said. “But there are not a lot of things to rewatch in this game. I think we just beat ourselves in some clutches and we messed up in important situations like 5v3s. Also, me, I couldn’t find the shots. I was missing a lot of important shots and it just sucks.
