A tournament that never got going
A respiratory infection took the start of the 2026 World Cup away from Jeremy Doku. Several matches gone before he had kicked a ball. When he did get back on the pitch, the role waiting for him was not the one he plays.
The 24-year-old Manchester City winger has now said so out loud, on PlaySports, questioning how Rudi Garcia used him with the Red Devils.
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“You can’t just start making things up”
“When I look back at the match against Egypt, and plenty of others, I wasn’t always put in the best conditions. On top of that illness, I played sometimes on the right, or even up front against Egypt. I don’t think those calls were the best,” the Belgian said.
He keeps circling back to the same grievance. His flank. “Especially when everyone knows I’m best on the left. You can’t just start making things up.” Coming from a player who almost never picks a public fight, that lands hard.
Quarter-finals, and a grudge that outlived them
Doku is not writing the whole campaign off. Belgium made the last eight and he takes that for what it is. “In the end, in this World Cup, we reached the quarter-finals. That’s a success as a team.”
Spain lifted the trophy on 19 July. More than a month later, Doku is still turning the same question over, and Garcia has said nothing back.
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