Euro 2016: 5 surprising facts about the tournament

Euro 2016
The Euro 2016 was special due to the participation of an increased number of teams

2) Brother vs Brother

Xhaka brothers
This is the first time a brother faced a brother in the Euros

Another weird fact about the Euro 2016 was that Taulant Xhaka and Granit Xhaka, brothers by birth faced off each other as Albania took on Switzerland in the group stages of the 2016 Euros. Taulant Xhaka, the elder of the two, decided to play for Albania after switching his allegiance from Switzerland to the nation that he played for.

He played for Switzerland throughout his entire youth career, but decided to switch to Albania after his brother Granit told him that he made a huge mistake after he chose to play for Switzerland over his country of descent.

Both the brothers were born in Basel, Switzerland, and are of Albanian heritage as their family moved from Kosovo before the birth of the elder Xhaka. The brothers faced each other in the 2016 Euros in a Group A tie. The younger brother was the victor of the two and god knows how awkward the match might have been for their parents!

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