Desiré and Guéla Doué lead way at World Cup bursting with brotherly love

OH BROTHER

In case you missed it last week, there was a brilliant bit of camerawork in France’s warm-up match against the Côte d’Ivoire in Nantes. After the African side drew level through Guéla Doué, the camera immediately panned to his younger brother on the opposition bench, Desiré, as the unusued French substitute wore a wry smile as he watched the Côte d’Ivoire celebrations.

The two siblings embraced at the end of the match – a shock 2-1 win for Côte d’Ivoire – and it was obvious to see how happy, despite France’s defeat, Desiré was for his older brother, who has often been overshadowed by his PSG superstar young’un. “It’s a shame I didn’t get to play against [my brother], as this was our first France-Ivory Coast match, but I’m happy, and he isn’t too fed up,” said Guéla, who posted a picture of himself reading L’Équipe the following day on his way to the USA USA USA. Cheeky.

The pair – born to a French mother and an Ivorian father – have always been inseparable. When Guéla was invited to a trial to join Rennes’ youth academy, five-year-old Desiré was seen doing keepy-ups on the sidelines. Following the trial, both were immediately signed by the club. In 2023, when Guéla came off the bench to make his Rennes first-team debut, who did he replace? His 17-year-old brother of course.

The Doué brothers are one of seven – SEVEN! – pairs of siblings at this Geopolitics World Cup. Three other sets play for different teams – Brian Brobbey (Netherlands) and half-brother Derrick Luckassen (Ghana), John Souttar (Scotland) and Harry Souttar (Australia) and Iñaki Williams (Ghana) and Nico Williams (Spain) – while three pairs will line-up for the same nation: Lucas and Théo Hernández (France), Laros and Deroy Duarte (Cape Verde) and Leandro Bacuna and Juninho Bacuna (Curaçao). Jurrien and twin brother Quinten (Netherlands) would have made it eight had Jurrien not been ruled out with knack.

There has only been one pair of brothers that have ever played each other at the World Cup: Germany’s Jérôme Boateng and Ghana’s Kevin-Prince Boateng, who faced off at both the 2010 and 2014 tournaments. Guéla and Desiré Doué could well be next, with Côte d’Ivoire a potential opponent for France in the knockout stage this summer. “My brother and I are like twins,” Desiré told Téléfoot. “That’s how we’ve always felt, right from a young age. We have this incredible bond that loads of people have commented on over the years. We tell each other everything and have no secrets. He’s such a massive support for me in my daily life.” We’ll see if that brotherly love is still in tact if Côte d’Ivoire repeat their victory at the GWC.

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Michael Butler is currently steering the good ship GWC Newsblog towards its mooring for the day, but Scott Murray will then take up the mantle at 9pm BST for (luke)warm-up updates from England 2-0 Costa Rica.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

double quotation markIf I’m still here today, it’s because the French team has won a lot of games. Otherwise, it could have ended before, whether I decided it or it was decided for me” – Didier Deschamps gets his chat on with Luke Entwistle as he heads for a swansong with Les Bleus at the GWC, discussing a legacy that no one – bar, perhaps, himself – would dare dispute.

double quotation markRe yesterday’s Football Daily: you are invited for lunch. The host does not allow your son to come, treats your wife with scorn, and asks your daughter to leave midway through. When you are ready to leave, he detains your wife and presents you with a hefty bill. Does it sound strange? Welcome to GWC 2026!” – Krishna Moorthy.

double quotation markPlease pass on my thanks to David Squires, once again, for giving me the spine to metaphorically crumple up and toss into the waste bin this entire GWC spectacle. It was a bit shy of four years ago when a Squires cartoon depicting the deplorable working conditions of immigrants in Qatar gave me the strength to say sod off to the entire enterprise – and I had been watching games since the 1970 final, the first televised here in the USA USA USA. But I admit, as these games have drawn near I have felt myself weakening, looking for some rationale to justify paying attention once again. Then yesterday you presented us with his latest cartoon. It was the perfect reminder of what is truly the essential character of Fifa, my country’s political leaders and as a result, the GWC. So thank you Football Daily, and thank you David Squires!” – Mike Fichtner (and others).

double quotation markJürgen Klinsmann may well have seen Maradona’s warmup (yesterday’s Football Daily letters). He could conceivably have started one of his dives in Stuttgart, and ended up in Munich” – Mike Rice.

double quotation markRe movable corner flags at the GWC (Monday’s Football Daily): shame Fifa hasn’t gone the full hog, and introduced movable goalposts. Might have helped England should they be forced into another penalty shootout” – Callum Taylor.

If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day is … Krishna Moorthy. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here.

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