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On June 23, 2010 when Germany played Ghana in a group D World Cup match in Johannesburg, a unique situation was witnessed, as two brothers lined up against each other. This was a historic first. In years gone by there have been several tales of brothers playing together in the World Cup. But this was the first time that they were on opposing sides. Jerome Boateng played as a central defender for Germany while Kevin-Prince played as an attacking midfielder for Ghana.
The Boatengs were born to a Ghanaian father but raised by separate mothers in Berlin. They are very close to each other and both are products of the German youth development system but chose to represent different countries. Ironically this historic coincidence of two brothers opposing each other will be repeated in Brazil 2014 also, as Germany and Ghana are again in the same group. When Germany plays Ghana in a group G match of the 2014 World Cup at the Estadio Castelao, Fortaleza on June 21, Jerome and Kevin Prince will again be on opposing sides.
Other teams in the 2014 World Cup have brothers playing but they will represent the same country. For instance Ghana itself has a pair of brothers’ midfielder 24-year-old Andre Ayew and striker 22-year-old Jordan Ayew. They are the sons of the famous Abedi Pele, three times African player of the year, who played for Marseille in France but never in the World Cup. Another African country, Ivory Coast has the famous Toure brothers, Yaya arguably one of the best midfielders in the World and Kolo a rugged central defender.
Both are playing together in their second World Cup. In the Premiership they are on opposing sides with younger brother Yaya representing champions Manchester City and the 33-year-old elder brother Kolo playing for Liverpool.
In the 2010 World Cup, Honduras became the first nation to have three brothers representing them in the World Cup in the form of defender Johnny Palacios, midfielder Wilson Palacios and striker Jerry Palacios. Johnny did not get to play a match and has been dropped from the Honduras squad for the 2014 World Cup. But 32-year-old striker Jerry and Wilson who plays for Stoke City in the Premiership will be on duty for Honduras at the World Cup.
Teams with brothers playing for them in the World Cup started from the inaugural edition in 1930. The most famous pair in the 1930 World Cup at Uruguay were Lucien Laurent who scored the first ever goal in World Cup history for France against Mexico on 13 July 1930 and his brother Jean. Other brothers who played in the inaugural edition were Juan Evaristo (Argentina) and Mario Evaristo (Argentina), and two pairs from Mexico. They were Manuel Rosas and Felipe Rosas and Rafael Garza Gutiérrez and Francisco Garza Gutiérrez.
The first pair of brothers to represent a country in different World Cups were Pierre Braine (Belgium, 1930) and younger brother Raymond Braine (Belgium, 1938). In the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland, Ottmar Walter (West Germany) and Fritz Walter (West Germany) became the first pair of brothers to win the World Cup. Both played in the final and skipper Fritz lifted the Jules Rimet trophy, after a 3-2 upset win over fancied favourites Hungary.
The next pair of brothers to win the World Cup were Bobby and Jack Charlton of England in 1966. Bobby played as a roving forward and scored a brace in the 2-1 win over Portugal in the semi final. Elder brother Jack was a rugged centre half who perfectly complimented the sublime skills of England’s captain and central defender Bobby Moore.
Jack Charlton who played for Leeds United and was later manager of Republic of Ireland in the 1990 and 1994 World Cups was fortunate to play in the 1966 World Cup. The classy central defender Maurice Norman of Tottenham Hotspur was manager Sir Alf Ramsey’s first choice as central defender but he got injured and was replaced by Jack Chalton.
In the 1974 World Cup two sets of brothers played for Haiti. They were Roger Saint-Vil and Guy Saint-Vil and Fritz Leandre and Marion Leandre. The brothers did little of note in this World Cup. Haiti lost all their three group matches, 0-7 to Poland, 1-3 to Italy and 0-4 to Argentina. Also their red-haired, mulatto centre half Jean Joseph tested positive for and was banned. So it was not a very memorable World Cup debut for Haiti.
The first pair of twins to play in a World Cup were Rene van de Kerkhof and Willy van de Kerkhof of the Netherlands in the 1974 and 1978 World Cups. They were the dominant team in both these tournaments but unfortunately finished as runners up to West Germany (1974) and Argentina (1978).
Another set of twins to have played in the World Cup, Frank de Boer and Ronald De Boer were also from the Netherlands. Both played in the 1994 and 1998 World Cups. In both these World Cups, Netherlands was eliminated by Brazil after tightly fought encounters, 2-3 in the quarter finals in 1994 and on penalties in the semi finals in 1998. Frank de Boer was one of the best defenders on view at France 98, and his tackle to dispossess a rampaging Ronaldo was one of the highlights of this tournament.
The 1990 World Cup was unique as two pairs of twin brothers played for different countries. Twins Ibrahim Hassan and Hossam Hassan represented Egypt and Eissa Meir Abdulrahman and Ibrahim Meir Abdulrahman played for United Arab Emirates (UAE).
In the 21st century, there have been two instances where twin brothers have played in the World Cup. In the 2002 World Cup, twins Marcin ?ew?akow and Micha? ?ew?akow played for Poland.
The last pair of twin brothers to play in the World Cup were Philip Degen and David Degen of Switzerland in Germany 2006.
There are some pairs of players who have the same surname and played in the same World Cups but are totally unrelated to each. The most famous instance is left back Nilton Santos and right back Djalma Santos for Brazil in the 1954, 1958, 1962 and 1966 World Cups. In the 1990s, Italy had Roberto Baggio, famous for his pony tail and silky dribbling skills and the hard working midfielder Dino Baggio who missed a penalty kick in the shoot-out against France in the quarter finals. The names were similar but they were unrelated.
Similarly dynamic midfielder Roy Keane and striker Robbie Keane played for Republic of Ireland in the 2002 World Cup but are not related to each other.
