Man City's Jeremy Doku blasted by Belgian media despite impressive stats vs Spain

Jeremy Doku was once again unable to make a meaningful impact as Belgium exited the 2026 World Cup with a 2-1 defeat to Spain.

The Manchester City winger has had an awful tournament to date, and this continued on Friday as the Lowland country were knocked out in the quarter-finals.

The 24-year-old was given the nod to start on Friday despite not picking up a single goal contribution before the game.

Against Spain, this trend continued, with the media now furious with his performance, not only in the quarter-finals, but throughout the tournament.

Doku had been in solid form for Man City before the World Cup, but he was unable to replicate this in the USA, Mexico and Canada.

As a result, Spain will now play France in the semi-finals, while Belgium will travel back to Europe.

Jeremy Doku had a ‘disappointing’ World Cup

Doku went into the tournament with the expectation of being one of Belgium’s best players.

Many of the nation’s golden generation are now past their prime, with the winger being one of the only stars to still play for a top club.

Yet, Doku had no impact all tournament, and was even caught out for one of Spain’s goals on Friday.

Therefore, upon reviewing the defeat to the European champions, outlet 7sur7 did not hold back.

Doku was awarded a four rating, the joint-worst on the team, as the article read: “Unfortunately, his performance throughout the tournament was disappointing. 

“He certainly wasn't lacking in effort, but his dribbling skills once again proved fruitless.

“He was also caught out of position for the first goal.”

How bad was Doku vs Spain?

According to Fotmob on 11 July, Doku was not awful against the Spanish despite the Belgian media’s reviews.

Overall, he completed the most dribbles of the game at five, created one chance, completed 79 per cent of his passes and won 11 ground duels.

However, he also failed to complete five attempted dribbles, only produced a 0.09 xA, had zero shots and committed three fouls.

It was always going to be a tough game against Spain. However, Doku simply made no meaningful impact up top throughout.

Nevertheless, it remains to be seen if this form will continue for Man City once the 2026-27 campaign gets underway, or if the 24-year-old will be able to put his World Cup performances quickly behind him.