Belgium Star Can Leave FIFA World Cup 2026 Midway, Faces Backlash: "Completely Useless"
Belgium football team star Jeremy Doku can leave the FIFA World Cup 2026 midway in order to attend the birth of his first child.
Belgium football team star Jeremy Doku can leave the FIFA World Cup 2026 midway in order to attend the birth of his first child. Doku made his intentions clear ahead of Belgium's match against Iran - a clash that will be extremely important for the side after they played out a draw against Egypt in their World Cup opener. The child is expected to be born in the second week of July and that means Doku can potentially be missing if Belgium reach the knockout stages. “It's my first child, so I would definitely want to be there,” he said. “If you ask me what I want, my answer is that nobody wants to miss the birth of their first child.” However, not everyone was happy with the comment as Doku faced tremendous criticism.
L'Equipe channel presenter France Pierron was left fuming over Doku's comments and after pointing out how big an occasion the World Cup is for players, she said that the father is "completely useless" at the time of child birth.
“The World Cup is an incredible joy,” she posted to the Facebook page of French sports publication L'Equipe.
“There are hundreds of footballers who would kill to be in your shoes. It might never happen again in your life. You're living out a childhood dream, yet you're going to walk away from it all to attend the birth of your child – a disgusting moment, if you'll pardon the expression, where the dad is completely useless.”
However, she later apologised for her comments after facing severe backlash.
Meanwhile, Doku will not play in his team's World Cup match against Iran on Sunday due to illness.
The Manchester City winger was ruled out Saturday by the Red Devils for the match at SoFi Stadium in the Los Angeles area.
The speedy Doku started Belgium's World Cup opener last Monday and played into the 86th minute of a 1-1 draw with Egypt. Doku reportedly left a practice early due to breathing issues during the week before the opening match.
Belgium is 10th in FIFA's world rankings, but it needs a strong result against Iran to stay on track to win its group after being held to that surprising draw by Egypt. The Red Devils finish group-stage play against New Zealand on Friday.
(With AP inputs)
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