{"id":503044,"date":"2026-06-20T21:06:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T21:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/503044\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T21:06:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T21:06:12","slug":"world-cup-baby-joy-for-norways-ostigard-while-doku-plans-to-fly-home-for-birth-world-cup-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/503044\/","title":{"rendered":"World Cup baby joy for Norway\u2019s \u00d8stig\u00e5rd while Doku plans to fly home for birth | World Cup 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Family life is intruding on the World Cup<\/a> for some players in the shape of new arrivals, with Norway\u2019s Leo \u00d8stig\u00e5rd following the birth of his first child by video link and J\u00e9r\u00e9my Doku contemplating leaving the Belgium squad to be with his wife when she gives birth, potentially \u2060missing a key match.<\/p>\n

\u00d8stig\u00e5rd, who has been receiving parenting tips from his teammate \u2060Erling Haaland, provided long-distance support to his partner, Aurora Eidmann, as she gave birth to their \u2060son on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m completely exhausted myself, it was absolutely amazing. \u200bShe did so well, \u200cthere wasn\u2019t much \u200cI could say, I just had to help her work \u200cand get him out. I\u2019m proud, amazing,\u201d the 26-year-old said in a video published by the Norwegian FA on its social media channels. \u201cWhen I saw him for the first time, I was blown away. It\u2019s absolutely insane. I\u2019m \u200cso happy and proud. It\u2019s definitely the greatest thing I\u2019ve ever experienced.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00d8stig\u00e5rd said that shortly after his son was born, the family\u2019s peace was broken by a knock on his hotel room door. \u201cFour lads came jumping into the room. It was probably \u2060Sander [Berge], Erling and J\u00f8rgen [Strand Larsen].\u201d<\/p>\n

Doku\u2019s wife, Shireen, is due to give birth in the second week of July, when the quarter-finals are scheduled. Doku told Reuters: \u201cIf you ask me what I want, my answer \u2060is that nobody wants to miss the birth of their first child. But I also know that football involves \u200bmany other considerations. I know the federation \u200csupports its players and understands their \u200csituations. We\u2019ll see what we can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Belgium\u2019s campaign started with a 1-1 draw against Egypt<\/a> and Doku missing a match to be at the birth would appear to hinge on them not only advancing from their group but winning two knockout ties. Nonetheless, there has been criticism in some quarters, with France Pierron, a French television journalist for L\u2019\u00c9quipe, saying of Doku: \u201cYou\u2019re living out a childhood dream, yet you\u2019re going to walk away \u200cfrom it all to attend the birth of your child \u2013 a disgusting moment, if you\u2019ll pardon the expression, where the dad is completely useless.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leo \u00d8stig\u00e5rd after scoring for Norway in their opening win against Iraq. Photograph: Jon Olav Nesvold\/Bildbyr\u00e5n\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

However, the remarks from Pierron have provoked a considerable backlash, with the newspaper Lib\u00e9ration describing her comments as \u201cthe reaction of another age\u201d. She subsequently posted: \u201cI was expressing a personal opinion within the context of a debate. These remarks are solely my own and in no way reflect a collective position. I understand that they may have shocked, offended, or hurt some of you, and I am sorry for that. My intention was never to minimise the place or role of fathers with their partners and children.\u201d<\/p>\n

As it is, Doku will miss Belgium\u2019s Group G game against Iran<\/a> on Sunday because he has not recovered from a respiratory infection. \u00d8stig\u00e5rd, meanwhile, can look forward to playing Senegal \u200bin Group \u200bI at the New York New \u200bJersey Stadium with a weight off his mind. He said: \u201cI think it makes me \u200ba little \u200cmore relaxed, \u200bthat everything \u200bhas gone well, because you never know. Now it\u2019s just joy and I\u2019m very happy that things are good, and that my boy is out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Family life is intruding on the World Cup for some players in the shape of new arrivals, with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":503045,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":["post-503044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=503044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503044\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/503045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=503044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=503044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=503044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}