The 'duets' of brothers at EURO 2016

In the upcoming tournament, 4 pairs of brothers will compete together, some pairs may have to compete head to head.

They make up only a small number of the 552 players who will compete in the EURO 2016 finals. However, this is also an interesting part of the tournament.

Romelu Lukaku (right) and Jordan Lukaku are one of four pairs of brothers at the EURO 2016 finals. Photo: uefa.com

In particular, the two brothers Granit Xhaka and Taulant Xhaka will have to face each other in the opening match. The new Arsenal player plays for the Swiss team while Taulant Xhaka plays for the Albanian team.

The Swiss team will meet Albania in the match taking place at 8:00 p.m. on June 11 (Vietnam time).

Granit Xhaka could face his brother in the opening match. Photo: Sky Sports.

The other three pairs of brothers in the tournament are all on the same national team. Striker Romelu Lukaku and his brother Jordan Lukaku are teammates with Toby Alderweireld, Eden Hazard… on the Belgian team.

Former Manchester United and West Brom midfielder Jonny Evans also has a brother, Corry Evans, who also plays for Northern Ireland. In addition, Vasili Berezutski and Aleksei Berezutski are brothers in the Russian national team.

In this EURO final round, many people also expected the Belgian team to have the brothers Eden and Thorgan Hazard in the squad. However, Thorgan was not selected by coach Marc Wilmots in the final list of 23 players.

Ronald Koeman (left) and Koer Koeman played with the Netherlands national team at the EURO 1988 finals. Photo: AFP.

In the history of previous EUROs, the first pair of brothers to compete together was in 1976. Rene and Willy van de Kerhof were two brothers on the Dutch team.

Along with that, the EURO 2016 finals have equaled the record of 4 pairs of brothers competing at the biggest football festival in Europe at EURO 2000. The four pairs of brothers competing in 2000 were: Emil and Mbo Mpenza (Belgium), Gary and Phil Neville (England), Frank and Ronald de Boer (Netherlands), Daniel and Patrik Andersson (Sweden).

The tournament's history also records a number of other famous brothers who played together at the same EURO: Erwin and Ronald Koeman (Netherlands, EURO 1988), Brian and Michel Laudrup (Denmark, EURO 1996), Franco and Giuseppe Baresi (Italy, EURO 1980)...

According to Lao Dong