5 siblings who represented different countries in football

There are many iconic footballing brothers who have represented their country with aplomb such as Gary and Phil Neville, Brian and Micheal Laudrup and Frank and Ronald De Boer and more recently Eden and Thorgan Hazard.

But there have been many pairs of brothers who have represented different countries because of the FIFA eligibility criteria, talent or simply because they felt more attached to a different country.

In this list, we look at five siblings who represented different countries in International Football.

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#5 Mathias Pogba, Florentin Pogba (Guinea) and Paul Pogba (France)

The case of the three Pogba brothers is well advertised and known. Florentin Pogba is a defender for AS Saint-Etienne in France. After beginning his youth career in Spain with Celta Vigo he made a move to Sedan then in the French third tier. He moved to AS Saint Etienne and represented France U-20s before being called up to Guinea duty for whom he has appeared 20 times.

Florentin admitted in an interview that he chose not to play for France at the senior level because he had always dreamed of playing for Guinea as a little boy. He realised his dream when he was picked for the African country.

His twin brother -- Mathias -- is a forward at Sparta Rotterdam and has spent most of his career in the UK apart from a brief spell at Pescara in Italy. He moved to the Dutch side last season and has played three times for the Guinea National team.

Paul Pogba is Manchester United's record signing and returned to the club after he left them on a free transfer and spent four years at Juventus in Italy. Pogba is considered a versatile central midfielder whose strength lies in driving in from the deep with or without the ball to create space and chances. He is a France regular having played 49 times for Les Blues since 2013. Pogba progressed naturally from the youth sides to the national side.

Paul was also born in France and was hailed as one of the best prospects by Didier Deschamps while he was at Manchester United.

The three brothers believe their love of football comes from their father, who encouraged them to take up the sport as younger children.

#4 Thiago Alcantara (Spain) and Rafinha Alcantara (Brazil)

Rafinha and Thiago

Thiago and Rafinha both came through the Barcelona youth system making their senior debuts for the Barcelona 'B' side before breaking into the first team.

Thiago is the older of the two brothers. He established himself under Pep Guardiola at the Catalan club. He is hailed for being a brilliant creative deep-lying playmaker and is known for his technical excellence.

Thiago followed Pep out of Barca to Bayern, where he has remained since 2013 as an integral part of the first team. He represented Spain at five different youth levels and has been a Spanish international since 2011, playing 23 games for the Iberian country.

Thiago moved to Spain with his father at the age of five and has spent most of his childhood in the country and playing at the La Masia, which might explain his connection with Spain.

Rafinha followed his brother's footsteps and made his senior debut for both the B and the first team in 2011. A central midfielder like his brother but one who is more of an attacking and flair player, Rafinha impressed on loan at Celta Vigo in 2013-14 and was a part of Barca's title-winning sides in 2015-16 and 2014-15. He represented Spain in his youth career but has since played for Brazil, making two senior appearances for them.

He claimed that being born in Sao Paolo and having a father who played for the National side made his choice to play for Brazil 'the easiest decision in his life'.

Those close to the family say that the globe-trotting career of the pair's father Mazinho has largely influenced their differing decisions and loyalties in football.

#3 Christian Vieri (Italy) and Massimilano Vieri (Australia)

The Vieri brothers

Christian Vieri is an Inter icon. He started his senior career for Torino before switching many clubs and moving to Juventus and then Atletico Madrid where he scored 24 in 24 games. He finally moved to Inter in 1999 and made 143 appearances for them scoring 103 goals.

Vieri moved to Milan in 2005 and then Fiorentina and Atlanta before hanging his boots up in 2009. He scored 23 goals in 43 matches for Italy between 1997 and 2005.

His brother -- Massimilano Vieri -- began his career at Juventus and spent a brief period at Napoli. He spent a vast majority of his career playing in the Serie B. He was called up by Australia in 2004 and played 6 times for the Socceroos.

The brothers spent a long part of their early life in Australia and Christian Vieri is said to be a huge fan of cricket legend Allan Border. The older Vieri made his mark in Italy and was instantly on the radar of the youth teams.He was also courted by Socceroos coach Eddie Thompson in 1990s but was rejected.

Massimilano Vieri had a meandering career but decided to accept an Australian call-up when there seemed to be no prospect of him making the Italy squad in order to try and play at the highest level of football.

#2 Granit Xhaka (Switzerland) and Taulant Xhaka (Albania)

The Xhakas facing each other

When Switzerland faced Albania in Euro 2016, Granit played against his brother Taulant in an international tournament as their mother watched on.

Granit Xhaka, arguably the more high profile of the two, began his career in Switzerland and represented Swiss youth sides. He played for FC Basel before moving to Borussia Monchengladbach in Germany for four years and rose to prominence. The spell at Gladbach earned him a move to Arsenal in 2016.

Granit Xhaka had reportedly wanted to play for the country of origin Albania but ended up making his debut for Switzerland after the Albanian National setup did not give him a call-up. He has gone on to represent the Swiss 55 times so far in his career. He even complained to the Albanian media about how poorly the Albanian FA was treating him despite his explicit interest to represent the country of his origin.

The Swiss FA's efforts were not in vain in the end because Xhaka gave up on Albania in 2011. He has also scored 8 goals for the national side.

Taulant Xhaka was advised by his brother not to play for Switzerland and he made himself available for Albania in 2013. He has played only for FC Basel apart from a loan spell at Grasshopper Club Zurich. He is the vice-captain of the FC Basel side has played 19 times for the Albanian National Team, apart from representing Switzerland from the U-17 to the U-21 levels.

#1 Tim Cahill (Australia) and Chris Cahill (Samoa)

Tim Cahill

Tim Cahill is Australia's record goal-scorer and is considered Australia's biggest soccer star in history. Cahill played for Millwall and was a fan-favourite and icon at Everton in England before moving to the United States to play in the MLS for the New York Red Bulls.

Cahill moved to China before moving back to Australia at Melbourne City FC in 2016. Cahill is still an important player for his club and one of the best in the A-League at 38 years old. He is an Australia regular and looks set to play next year's World Cup, if Australia do qualify. He has made 103 appearances and scored 50 goals for on the international stage. He also played for the Australia U-23 side and had appeared for the Samoa U-20s.

His brother Chris Cahill, played for minor Australian clubs throughout his career and represented Samoa thrice scoring 2 goals. He even served as captain for a brief time in this stint. Chris Cahill and Tim Cahill have a Samoan mother. With Chris nowhere near the capacity required to join his brother for Australia, he accepted a senior call-up from his mother's home nation in the hope to resurrect his career which was stuck in the Australian regional divisions.