Is Jeremy Doku playing? Belgium vs Senegal confirmed lineups for the 2026 World Cup game

Belgium and Senegal are set to collide on Wednesday, July 1st, in a high-stakes Round of 32 clash at the 2026 World Cup at Seattle Stadium. After the young winger temporarily stepped away from the national team camp, fans have been buzzing with questions regarding whether Jeremy Doku would return straight to the starting lineup for the Red Devils.

Doku has officially been named to the starting XI to face Senegal in this crucial knockout match. After briefly leaving the team’s base camp to attend the birth of his son (which caused him to miss the group-stage match against Iran), the Manchester City winger made a seamless return to action against New Zealand and is now in peak physical condition to anchor the attack against the African powerhouse.

Belgium enters the knockout rounds after snapping a frustrating streak of three consecutive World Cup draws (dating back to a scoreless stalemate with Croatia in 2022) by securing a dominant 5-1 blowout over New Zealand. By locking up the top spot in Group G with five points, the Red Devils are now desperate to erase a recent winless funk against African opposition, having previously fallen to Morocco 2-0 and settling for a 1-1 draw against Egypt earlier in this tournament.

On the other side of the pitch, Senegal scraped into the knockout bracket by securing the final wild-card spot among the top third-place finishers, surviving the group phase with just three points. After opening their campaign with highly competitive 3-1 and 3-2 losses to France and Norway respectively, a resounding 5-0 clinical destruction of Iraq threw a much-needed lifeline to the Lions of Teranga, who are making the most of their fourth World Cup appearance in national history.

A historic, first-ever meeting between two powerhouse nations

Despite both programs consistently ranking among the top 20 nations in the world over the last decade, Belgium and Senegal have remarkably never crossed paths on the soccer pitch, not even in an international friendly. This means that tonight’s high-stakes Round of 32 battle will mark the first time these two teams have ever shared a field, opening up a brand-new head-to-head chapter on the sport’s grandest stage.

Confirmed lineups for Belgium and Senegal

Belgium’s confirmed lineups (4-3-3): Thibaut Courtois; Timothy Castagne, Brandon Mechele, Arthur Theate, Maxim De Cuyper; Hans Vanaken, Kevin De Bruyne, Youri Tielemans; Leandro Trossard, Charles De Ketelaere, Jeremy Doku.
Head coach: Rudi Garcia.

Senegal’s confirmed lineups (4-2-3-1): Mory Diaw; Krepin Diatta, Pathe Ciss, Moussa Niakhate, Ismail Jakobs; Idrissa Gana Gueye, Habib Diarra, Pape Gueye; Iliman Ndiaye,Ismaila Sarr, Sadio Mane.
Head coach: Pape Thiaw.