FUT fell to Spirit 3-1 in the EWC 2026 grand final, drawing first blood in the series before dropping three maps in a row, two of them after overtime.
After the match, András “coolio” Fercsák sat down with HLTV and shared his thoughts on the final and the valuable experience his team gained from playing on stage in Paris.
“I think they [Spirit] were sharper with communication and reactions, and I think it’s also coming with experience,” he said. “For us, this was the biggest stage, the first time; it’s a totally different environment than playing at home. I think they were just more experienced and calmer in the important situations.”
You always feel that you should win this round and ,’Oh, unlucky’. But no, it’s all about communication, how you play out situations
coolio then put down the 13-5 loss on Nuke to how his team lost Ancient, where they let a 12-9 lead slip before losing the game in overtime.
“I think we couldn’t win a single duel,” he said. “We had good reads on the map. We were having setups where they were actually coming, but we just couldn’t kill them.
“And I think we ran out of energy, and you could see it on the guys that this Ancient loss was hitting them hard, and we couldn’t really reset mentally, and they just had the momentum, and they just killed us.”
FUT will now turn their attention to BLAST Open Porto, where they will face Legacy in the opening round. coolio said he hopes the team can bounce back from the loss, and noted he is taking a “realistic” approach to that event.
“I don’t want to set high expectations even though we ended up in second place here,” he said.
“I just hope the guys can reset in these few days because it’s not easy, of course.”
coolio, second place here at EWC after a series that was very close until the final map. What is going through your mind right now?
First of all, I’m proud of the team because second place is something we didn’t expect before we came here. About today, I think we put up a good fight, and we just lost because I think they had more experience in the hard and the clutch situations. They were just calmer, and they could manage to win these rounds.
And for a young team like yours to come all the way to the grand final and push Spirit to the limit on the first three maps, how proud are you of the team?
Yeah, obviously I’m really proud of them because what we did here is really amazing, and we just changed a player like two months ago, and that they ended up in second place here is something really good. We need to take confidence from this tournament, and we shouldn’t think that it’s [just] a second place, and we shouldn’t be sad, because we have a tournament in three days, and then we need to go there with confidence.
Anubis and Ancient came down to the wire. Both games went to overtime, and there were some situations on Ancient that could have gone your way, and you could have taken the map. Do you think that because Spirit have more experience in these games, that made a difference today?
Yeah, I think Counter-Strike is always like that. You always feel that you should win this round and ,’Oh, unlucky’. But no, it’s all about communication, how you play out situations. On Anubis also, I think we lost like three after-plant situations. If we had won this, then we could have had a much better T side, and then on CT side, maybe we could have just closed out the game. I think they were sharper with communication and reactions, and I think it’s also coming with experience. For us, this was the biggest stage, the first time; it’s a totally different environment than playing at home. I think they were just more experienced and calmer in the important situations.
You knew going into Nuke that it was going to be very tough, right? I spoke to dziugss yesterday. He said, ‘Nuke is not a good map for us.’ Are you disappointed with the way that it ended?
A bit, yeah, to be honest, but we didn’t lose Nuke because we are that bad. I think we couldn’t win a single duel. We had good reads on the map. We were having setups where they were actually coming, but we just couldn’t kill them. And I think we ran out of energy, and you could see it on the guys that this Ancient loss was hitting them hard, and we couldn’t really reset mentally, and they just had the momentum, and they just killed us.
It was an unbelievable run from your team here in Paris. What do you think that your players can take away from this event for the future?
I want them to take the confidence because sometimes I think they kind of underestimate themselves, how good they are individually. But I think it’s all about experience. Here we gained a lot. We played back then in the different area, it was also big for us, and we learned how to play with the crowd, and here also we got a new experience. And we played a lot of maps, so it’s good because we get more reps with xfl0ud, so a lot to learn from. But we need to focus on the positives and not the negatives in this tournament.
And now BLAST Porto in a few days, almost no time to reset, to rest, and to prepare for that one. Considering all that, what kind of expectations do you have?
I would always be realistic. I don’t want to set high expectations even though we ended up in second place here. We can go there. We can lose in the first game, and then we are instantly in the lower bracket. I think we play versus Legacy, who also finished in third place in this tournament, so I think they’re also tired like us. But I think we ended up in a better position, so it’s going to be a good game. I know how they play, and I just hope the guys can reset in these few days because it’s not easy, of course.
