Following a 2-1 defeat in the third-place decider at the Esports World Cup 2026, FURIA head coach Sidnei “sidde” Macedo addressed the ongoing rumors regarding the Brazilian roster and the upcoming retirement of Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo.
Addressing roster rumors
With FalleN scheduled to conclude his competitive career at the end of the year, speculation has surfaced regarding other players exploring options outside of the organization. The coach shut down these claims directly, stating that the team is exclusively focused on finding a new in-game leader.
First of all, the only reality that we work with right now is that FalleN is going to retire by the end of the year and then we’re going to bring a replacement for him,” sidde explained. “All those things that people say about players maybe leaving or exploring options, those are all rumors. We don’t work with that possibility. Right now, we’re working behind the scenes to find a replacement for FalleN, and this is the only reality we have right now inside.
Maintaining focus during the transition
Replacing a veteran in-game leader presents a challenge for players like Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato and Yuri “yuurih” Santos, who have spent years building the current team. When asked about how the news has affected the squad, sidde stated that their motivation remains unchanged for now.
Ever since we announced FalleN’s retirement, we just kept doing the same as what we do,” the coach noted. “We just try to focus as much as we can inside the game and we try to focus for the tournaments and we didn’t really have a moment where we dropped down a bit of our motivation or anything like that. We just kept fighting and working and practicing every time.
While the immediate impact appears controlled, sidde acknowledged that the emotional weight of the departure will become more prominent as the year concludes.
I think when it gets closer to the end of the year, the emotional side might get a bit affected by it because of course it’s not easy to lose FalleN, not only for us, but also for the Counter-Strike scene in general,” he added. “So far, we’ve been trying our best like we always did with this lineup. I don’t think all these news are affecting us. We are right now not playing to our best, but we are very close to it. I think we need to take good care of our emotional side come the end of the year.
