Online PHP editor | refs for 3Y5Qf

<?php $array = [ 'entity_id' => 5740, 'parent_id' => 5739, 'label' => 'Sports', 'name' => 'sports', 'children' => [ [ 'entity_id' => 5754, 'parent_id' => 5740, 'label' => 'Badminton', 'name' => 'badminton', 'children' => [ [ 'entity_id' => 5756, 'parent_id' => 5754, 'label' => 'Tournaments', 'name' => 'tournaments', ] ], ] ], ]; function labelSearch(array $array, string $label): array { foreach ($array as $item) { if ($item['label'] === $label) { unset($item['children']); return $item; } if (isset($item['children'])) { $result = labelSearch($item['children'], $label); if ($result) { return $result; } } } return null; } var_export(labelSearch([$array], 'Badminton'));