Jeremy Doku has become a father, the Belgian Football Association announced, days after the player’s plans to leave the FIFA World Cup to attend his child’s birth sparked controversy.
After consultations with medical staff, Doku was allowed to temporarily leave the Red Devils before last Sunday’s game with Iran to join his wife in London, where the couple welcomed a baby boy, Praise, the federation said on Monday.
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“Jeremy received the news before yesterday’s match that the birth was imminent,” the team’s doctor, Brahim Hacene, said.
Doku had already been ruled out of Sunday’s match due to illness.
“As he had already been receiving the appropriate medical treatment for several days, he was able to fly without any medical risk to be with his family during this very special moment,” the doctor said.
“Mother, father, and baby are all doing wonderfully,” he added.
Doku, who is to rejoin his teammates in Seattle on Tuesday, is regarded as one of the best young players in the Belgium squad, who have made a solid if unspectacular start to their campaign, drawing both their matches so far.
The 24-year-old had made it clear before the Red Devils’ first match that he would have wanted to be there for the birth of his first child, drawing criticism from some quarters.
A presenter on L’Equipe TV, the channel of the historic French sports newspaper, questioned the decision, saying that fathers were “useless” at childbirth, whereas hundreds of footballers would have killed to play in a World Cup.
The comments triggered an online storm, forcing L’Equipe to apologise and distance itself from them. The presenter has been stood down from her show.
Doku started in Belgium’s first match against Egypt, but struggled to make an impact before being replaced.
The lacklustre scoreless draw against Iran in Los Angeles drew scorn from Belgian media, which lambasted the team’s performance.
Belgium, who are rebuilding after their “golden generation” showed that age had caught up with them in exiting at the group stage in the 2022 World Cup, can assure themselves of progressing to the last 32 with a win over New Zealand in their final group match on Friday.
Belgium’s Doku welcomes son during World Cup amid commentator controversy | World Cup 2026
Doku travelled to the UK as a French presenter who said fathers are ‘useless’ at childbirth was stood down from her show.
Published On 22 Jun 202622 Jun 2026
Jeremy Doku has become a father, the Belgian Football Association announced, days after the player’s plans to leave the FIFA World Cup to attend his child’s birth sparked controversy.
After consultations with medical staff, Doku was allowed to temporarily leave the Red Devils before last Sunday’s game with Iran to join his wife in London, where the couple welcomed a baby boy, Praise, the federation said on Monday.
Recommended Stories
list of 4 itemsend of list
“Jeremy received the news before yesterday’s match that the birth was imminent,” the team’s doctor, Brahim Hacene, said.
Doku had already been ruled out of Sunday’s match due to illness.
“As he had already been receiving the appropriate medical treatment for several days, he was able to fly without any medical risk to be with his family during this very special moment,” the doctor said.
“Mother, father, and baby are all doing wonderfully,” he added.
Doku, who is to rejoin his teammates in Seattle on Tuesday, is regarded as one of the best young players in the Belgium squad, who have made a solid if unspectacular start to their campaign, drawing both their matches so far.
The 24-year-old had made it clear before the Red Devils’ first match that he would have wanted to be there for the birth of his first child, drawing criticism from some quarters.
A presenter on L’Equipe TV, the channel of the historic French sports newspaper, questioned the decision, saying that fathers were “useless” at childbirth, whereas hundreds of footballers would have killed to play in a World Cup.
The comments triggered an online storm, forcing L’Equipe to apologise and distance itself from them. The presenter has been stood down from her show.
Doku started in Belgium’s first match against Egypt, but struggled to make an impact before being replaced.
The lacklustre scoreless draw against Iran in Los Angeles drew scorn from Belgian media, which lambasted the team’s performance.
Belgium, who are rebuilding after their “golden generation” showed that age had caught up with them in exiting at the group stage in the 2022 World Cup, can assure themselves of progressing to the last 32 with a win over New Zealand in their final group match on Friday.
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Troy Deeney’s Team of the Week: Doku, Van de Ven, Gyokeres, Mainoo, Gallagher
Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United): When you look at the back end of the season compared to the start of the season it has been night and day. It just shows what a bit of love and care can do to somebody. I’m not willing to say Mainoo is the man yet – I think we have to see more of a body of work – but I would say the win against Liverpool was the best performance I’ve seen him have in a United shirt. Dominated the game, made some big tackles, passing forward, breaking up the play but also coming with the goal. The most complete performance from him, I thought he was excellent.
Dominik Szoboszlai (Liverpool): Goal and assist for him at Old Trafford. Liverpool have been terrible all season but he comes out with his head high as one of the best around. His stock has grown in a poor season for them. He keeps coming up with big performances.
Conor Gallagher (Tottenham): I was going to put James Garner in there, but Gallagher gets it for me because the game was even more important for Spurs. Big goal. He has had a tough time there but with Roberto de Zerbi and the philosophy of pressing and running hard, I think that makes Gallagher an unbelievable buy for Spurs. He will not only be good this year but for the coming years.
Mathys Tel (Tottenham): I thought Tel was arguably the most overrated player that Spurs bought, but since the turn of the year he has had a light switch in head that says ‘hold on, I was at Bayern Munich and now I could be playing in the Championship’. He stepped up. He has played big minutes in terms of carrying the ball forward, being an outlet and now is adding assists to it. That cross for Richarlison was a striker’s dream.
Jeremy Doku (Manchester City): He wasn’t going to be in it until the last kick of the game. Two unbelievable strikes in the same match and one with either foot. He’s the most frustrating player to watch because you think ‘you are faster than everyone else – kick and run’, but he likes his tricks. When he puts his two goals in the corner, he has kept Manchester City’s season alive because it was dead. I still think Arsenal will win it, but he has made it interesting.
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