Brother vs brother: Siblings who have played for different countries

When it comes to playing for the national team, one would assume that siblings would certainly play for the same country. And there are many examples of siblings rocking it together for their country.

However, there are a few siblings who, as a result of their diverse ancestry, choose to play for different countries.

We take a look at the siblings who have chosen to pull on the shirts for different national teams - and some who have played each other on the international stage.

Football-

Granit Xhaka and Taulant Xhaka (Switzerland and Albania)
In Euro 2016, Switzerland faced Albania. It was not only a match between two nations but also 'brother against brother'. 

Granit has the international bragging rights over his older brother, with Switzerland winning 1-0 when the pair met at Uefa Euro 2016.

Granit Xhaka is arguably more talented.

Reportedly he wanted to play for Albania but did not get any call. Therefore he ended up joining Switzerland.

His brother, Taulant Xhaka played for Swiss in U-17 and U-21 levels. But Granit advised him not to play for Switzerland. And that was why he joined Albania.

He played 19 games for the Albania National Team.

The Pogba brothers (France and Guinea)

It's a story of three brothers. Florentin Pogba is a defender. He played for France U-20. After that, he played for Guinea. In an interview, he clarified that it was his dream to play for Guinea.

Florentin has a twin brother, named Mathias. He is a forward. He spent most of his time in the UK. He also played for Guinea.

And now Paul Pogba. He is a versatile centre midfielder. He was born in France and has represented since 2013. In 2018 he won the World Cup. Now he is playing for Manchester United.

The Boatengs (Germany and Ghana)
Jerome Boateng plays for Germany while Kevin Prince Boateng played for Ghana. In the 2010 World Cup, the Boateng brothers faced off each other.

It's a record for the brothers playing against each other in the World Cup.

Kevin Prince is a dynamic player. He played in different positions. Sometimes as a winger, sometimes as an attacking midfielder.

On the other hand, Jerome, the World Cup winner is a centre back.

Apart from the World Cup, Jerome won 7 Bundesliga titles, a UEFA Champions League trophy, Uefa Super Cup, and Fifa Club World Cup with Bayern Munich.

The Alcantara brothers ( Spain and Brazil)
Thiago Alcantara played for while Rafinha Alcantara for Brazil. Thiago is the older of the two brothers. At the age of five, Thiago moved to Spain with his father.

He was a student at Barcelona academy, La Masia.  

Rafinha was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He is a central midfielder like his brother. In his youth, he also played for Spain, but he made two senior appearances for Brazil. 

The Cahills (Australia and Samoa) 
One of the best footballers in Australian history is Tim Cahill. He is the highest goal scorer for Australia. He played more than 100 matches and scored 50 goals.

His brother, Chris Cahill played for Samoa three times and scored two goals. Chris wanted to play for Australia, but he got a call from his mothers' home nation and joined Samoa.

Cricket-

Darren Pattinson, James Pattinson (Australia and England)

The former English seamer Darren Pattinson was born in England. At the age of six, he moved to Australia. In his only match, he took two wickets against South Africa in 2008.

On The other hand, his younger brother James Pattinson was born in Australia and played for them in 15 ODIs and 4 T20s. He also played 21 Test matches and took 81 wickets. His debut match was against Bangladesh. 

Ed Joyce and Dom Joyce (England and Ireland)

Now it's about a family full of cricketers. Along with Ed Joyce, his two brothers and two sisters also played cricket. 

Ed represented Ireland in 1 Test, 61 ODIs and 16 T20s. But in 2006 this right-handed batsman joined the English team and played 17 ODIs.

On June 13, 2006, in a match between England and Ireland Ed debuted for England and Dom for Ireland. Dom's career was not long enough. He played just three ODIs and made 29 runs.

The Hearne trio (England and South Africa)

Frank Hearne started his career in 1889 as an English player. He represented this nation only in two matches. Then he moved to South Africa. He played four Test matches for SA.

His brothers Alec and George played for England throughout their cricket careers.

They played one Test match each. But their domestic records were different. George played 328 first-class games. He scored more than 9000 runs and picked up 686 wickets.

On the other hand, Alce has more than 16,000 runs and 1160 to his name.