Tale of the Boateng Brothers

It is by no means a new phenomenon for brothers to play alongside each other at a FIFA World Cup™, with Argentinians Mario and Juan Evaristo as well as Mexicans Manuel and Felipe Rosas and Rafael and Francisco Gutierrez all making the trip to the inaugural World Cup in Uruguay in 1930. Over the years they have been followed by Fritz and Ottmar Walter, who propelled Germany to victory in Switzerland in 1954, Bobby and Jack Charlton, who won the competition with England in 1966, and Robert and Niko Kovac, who both represented Croatia at the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan™ tournament before taking on the role of national team coaches ahead of this summer’s showpiece in Brazil.

However, it is much more unusual for two brothers to play for different national teams. The Scottish siblings John and Archie Goodall rewrote the record books when they became the first brothers to don the colours of different countries. Neither pulled on the navy blue jersey of Scotland, though, with John electing to represent England and Archie pledging his loyalty to Northern Ireland. Other examples include Massimiliano (Australia) and Christian Vieri (Italy) as well as Paul Pogba (France) and his two brothers Florentin and Mathias (Guinea). But none of the above have ever lined up on opposing sides at a World Cup finals.

Kevin-Prince and Jerome Boateng hit the headlines for this very reason when they faced each other on 23 June 2010 in South Africa. Jerome took to the field wearing the white of the German national team, while Kevin-Prince featured for the Black Stars. The match, which the European side won 1-0, marked another first in world football.