Belgium player criticized for leaving World Cup for birth of child. "Father is useless" during birth

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7378645/2026/06/20/jeremy-doku-belgium-world-cup-first-child/



“It’s my first child, so I ‌would ⁠definitely want to be there,” Doku said earlier this week, per Reuters.

Doku told ​reporters his wife Shireen is due in the second week of July — when the tournament has reached the quarter-final stage — and, if Belgium are ​still involved, he wants to be at the birth.

“If you ask me what I want, my answer is that nobody wants to miss the birth of their first child. But I also ​know that football ​involves many ⁠other considerations,” he said. “I know the federation supports its players and understands their situations. We’ll see what we ​can do.”

On Friday, the L’Equipe channel presenter France Pierron said it was a “disgusting moment” to leave the international squad, adding that the “father is useless” during the birth process. “You are not going to cut an umbilical cord; you can’t miss a World Cup,” she said.

Pierron’s comments faced pushback from the former boxer Brahim Asloum, who responded: “A baby is your entire life. A World Cup is over when it is over.”