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Brothers playing at the World Cup is nothing new, with England's Bobby and Jack Charlton lifting the trophy in 1966 and Dutch twins René and Willy van de Kerkhof featuring together in the 1978 final.
There are also the Boateng brothers Jérôme and Kevin-Prince who faced each other when Jérôme's Germany played Kevin-Prince's Ghana at the 2014 tournament.
French brothers Theo and Lucas Hernandez were already at the 2022 tournament where Lucas suffered a severe knee injury early in their first match and was replaced by Theo.
They are back again and part of seven pairs of siblings overall at the 2026 tournament, of which three are in the same team while the four other pairs play for different countries.
Apart from the Hernandez brothers, Curaçao feature captain Leandro Bacuna and his brother Jininho and Cape Verde has brothers in midfielders Deroy and Laros Duerta.
It should have been been four pairs but Jurriën Timber failed to recover from injury and was withdrawn from the Dutch squad which now only features his brother Quinten.
The other four pairs chose different national team paths:
Barefoot through the Sahara: the Williams parents
Inaki and Nico Williams both play club football for Athletic Bilbao but Nico plays for Spain and Inaki for Ghana.
Their parents are from Ghana and left for Europe, crossing parts of the Sahara desert when mother Maria was pregnant with the now 32-year-old Inaki, who was named after a priest who helped them get into Spain.
Inaki chose to play for Ghana while winger Nico, who is nine years younger at 23, chose Spain and won Euro 2024 with them. Both are committed to their Bilbao club, with Nico even snubbing mighty Barcelona.
"As an older brother, it makes me really proud to see how he has grown, to see how he is improving as a footballer. He has no ceiling. I'm here to help him, to teach him and give him everything he needs," Inaki once told the BBC.
Like the Boatengs: Luckassen and Brobbey
Like the Boateng brothers, Derrick Luckassen and Brian Brobbey have a Ghanaian mother but different fathers.
Both were born in Amsterdam and went through Dutch teams before Luckassen decided to play for Ghana. Brobbey achieved the leap into the Dutch team.
One for father's and the other for mother's country
The other two pairs decided to play for their mothers' and fathers' countries.
The Doués
Desiré und Guéla Doué have an Ivorian father and a French mother. They grew up in France and started their careers at Stade Rennes.
At 21, Desiré is the younger sibling but also the more talented one. The winger plays for Paris Saint-Germain and has won the Champions League twice with them.
Desiré plays for France while Strasbourg full back Guéla is part of the Ivory Coast squad.
The Souttars
John und Harry Souttar are the sons of Scottish-Australian parents. Father Jack is from Scotland and was a player in the 1970s while mother Heather was born in Australia.
The brothers grew up and started their football careers in Scotland, where the parents live, but Harry decided to play for Australia in 2019 while John is part of the Scotland squad.
Both won their opening matches on the same day last week. Defender Harry captained the Socceroos to a 2-0 success over Turkey while John was an unused substitute in Scotland's 1-0 against Haiti.
"They're fairly close brothers," father Jack told the BBC. "They're always talking to each other about games. They're always looking out for each other, that's for certain."
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There are also the Boateng brothers Jérôme and Kevin-Prince who faced each other when Jérôme's Germany played Kevin-Prince's Ghana at the 2014 tournament.
French brothers Theo and Lucas Hernandez were already at the 2022 tournament where Lucas suffered a severe knee injury early in their first match and was replaced by Theo.
They are back again and part of seven pairs of siblings overall at the 2026 tournament, of which three are in the same team while the four other pairs play for different countries.
Apart from the Hernandez brothers, Curaçao feature captain Leandro Bacuna and his brother Jininho and Cape Verde has brothers in midfielders Deroy and Laros Duerta.
It should have been been four pairs but Jurriën Timber failed to recover from injury and was withdrawn from the Dutch squad which now only features his brother Quinten.
The other four pairs chose different national team paths:
Barefoot through the Sahara: the Williams parents
Inaki and Nico Williams both play club football for Athletic Bilbao but Nico plays for Spain and Inaki for Ghana.
Their parents are from Ghana and left for Europe, crossing parts of the Sahara desert when mother Maria was pregnant with the now 32-year-old Inaki, who was named after a priest who helped them get into Spain.
Inaki chose to play for Ghana while winger Nico, who is nine years younger at 23, chose Spain and won Euro 2024 with them. Both are committed to their Bilbao club, with Nico even snubbing mighty Barcelona.
"As an older brother, it makes me really proud to see how he has grown, to see how he is improving as a footballer. He has no ceiling. I'm here to help him, to teach him and give him everything he needs," Inaki once told the BBC.
Like the Boatengs: Luckassen and Brobbey
Like the Boateng brothers, Derrick Luckassen and Brian Brobbey have a Ghanaian mother but different fathers.
Both were born in Amsterdam and went through Dutch teams before Luckassen decided to play for Ghana. Brobbey achieved the leap into the Dutch team.
One for father's and the other for mother's country
The other two pairs decided to play for their mothers' and fathers' countries.
The Doués
Desiré und Guéla Doué have an Ivorian father and a French mother. They grew up in France and started their careers at Stade Rennes.
At 21, Desiré is the younger sibling but also the more talented one. The winger plays for Paris Saint-Germain and has won the Champions League twice with them.
Desiré plays for France while Strasbourg full back Guéla is part of the Ivory Coast squad.
The Souttars
John und Harry Souttar are the sons of Scottish-Australian parents. Father Jack is from Scotland and was a player in the 1970s while mother Heather was born in Australia.
The brothers grew up and started their football careers in Scotland, where the parents live, but Harry decided to play for Australia in 2019 while John is part of the Scotland squad.
Both won their opening matches on the same day last week. Defender Harry captained the Socceroos to a 2-0 success over Turkey while John was an unused substitute in Scotland's 1-0 against Haiti.
"They're fairly close brothers," father Jack told the BBC. "They're always talking to each other about games. They're always looking out for each other, that's for certain."
Continue reading...
