Belgium winger Jérémy Doku expected to be available for his team's World Cup opener against Egypt
Belgium winger Jérémy Doku returned to practice a day after reportedly leaving a training session early as the team prepares for its World Cup opener against Egypt on Monday
RENTON, Wash. (AP) — Belgium winger Jérémy Doku returned to practice Wednesday, a day after reportedly leaving a training session early, as the team prepares for its World Cup opener against Egypt on Monday.
The 24-year-old Doku, who plays for Premier League club Manchester City, experienced some breathing issues on Tuesday during a closed practice, according to Belgian newspaper HLN. Before practice ended, Doku went inside the indoor training facility of Major League Soccer's Seattle Sounders for precautionary reasons, the report said.
During the portion of Wednesday's training session open to reporters, Doku was a full participant. Winger Alexis Saelemaekers said he believes the national team's training staff can keep Doku in shape for the tournament.
“When Jérémy steps off the field, it is logical that there are immediate question marks,” Saelemaekers said in French. “But it is nothing serious.”
Doku has represented Belgium on the international level since 2020. In World Cup qualifying in 2025, Doku scored a goal in a 4-3 win over Wales. He put in two in a 7-0 victory over Liechtenstein, a result which clinched Belgium's berth in this year's World Cup.
In 42 appearances for the Belgian national team, Doku has scored seven goals.
Recommended for you
Debast sidelined
Center back Zeno Debast was the only notable Belgium player absent from Wednesday's training session, which was expected. The 22-year-old Debast injured his leg in May during a training session with Portuguese club Sporting Lisbon and is not expected to be available until later in the tournament.
Debast has appeared in 26 matches for Belgium and was on the 2022 World Cup roster in Qatar.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.