Football
Chris Wright, Toe Poke writer 4y

Famous footballing twins: Celebrating Pogba, Rapinoe and De Boer

Friday, May 15, marks a big day in the De Boer family, as twin brothers Frank and Ronald turn 50.

The Dutch siblings are arguably the most successful footballing twins of all time, having amassed hundreds of caps and dozens of trophies over the course of their intertwined careers.

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In fact, Frank and Ronald played together at no less than five different clubs: Ajax, Barcelona, Rangers and then Al-Rayyan and Al-Shamal in Qatar.

There have been many other twins to have both made the grade as professional footballers, and here are just a few of the more notable examples.

1. Rene and Willy van de Kerkhof

The Van de Kerkhof brothers were precursors to the De Boers, with the Netherlands-born twins playing for both FC Twente and PSV together. They also both went to the 1974 and 1978 World Cups.

2. Fabio and Rafael da Silva

The tousle-haired Brazilian full-backs made their names at Manchester United after signing from Fluminense together in 2008. They spent the next six years playing alongside one another before going their separate ways. They are both now in France, with Rafael at Lyon and Fabio playing for Nantes. 

3. Lars and Sven Bender

The near-identical utility midfielders came through the ranks together at 1860 Munich as kids before parting ways -- Lars to Bayer Leverkusen and Sven to Borussia Dortmund -- only to be reunited again in 2017 when the latter joined his brother at Leverkusen.

4. Aleksei and Vasili Berezutski

Both exceedingly tall at 1.9 metres and equally intimidating, the Berezutski brothers formed a human wall next to each other in defence for both CSKA Moscow and Russia's national side from 2003-2016.

5. Halil and Hamit Altintop

Thanks to their similar names and careers as Turkey internationals and Schalke/Bundesliga stalwarts, the Altintop twins were and are still regularly mistaken for each other.

Halil was a decent winger, while Hamit -- who is 10 minutes older -- was a gifted midfielder who won the 2010 Puskas Award with a thunderous volley against Kazakhstan.

6. Josh and Jacob Murphy

Having come through the Norwich City academy together, the 25-year-old wingers are currently playing in the Championship with Cardiff City and Sheffield Wednesday, respectively.

7. Martin and Marcus Olsson

Both left-backs by trade, the Sweden internationals have forged decent professional careers, even playing together at Blackburn Rovers for a short while.

The Olssons' brother-in-law is former NBA star Dirk Nowitzki, who married the twins' older sister Jessica in 2012.

8. Radja and Riana Nainggolan

Cagliari hardman Radja has a twin sister who plays professional football and has also represented Belgium at international level.

9. Florentin and Mathias Pogba

Paul's older twin siblings may not quite enjoy his level of celebrity, but both are serviceable players who have represented Guinea at international level.

10. Ray and Rod Wallace

The Wallaces were the very first twins to play in the Premier League, with both playing for Leeds in the early 1990s.

Ray bowed out after just seven appearances, but Rod went on to score 45 goals in 197 top-flight games.

However, the story of the Wallaces actually started at Southampton, where older brother Danny broke into the first team in 1980. Ray and Rod then both signed for the Saints, and in October 1988, against Sheffield Wednesday, all three were on the pitch at the same time. It was the first time three brothers had played for the same team in 68 years.   

11. Dean and David Holdsworth

The Holdsworths started out together as youngsters at Watford in the late 1980s before their careers took separate paths. However, they did reunite at Bolton in the 1990s for a very brief time before both moving into lower league management.

12. David and Philipp Degen

The brothers were selected to represent Switzerland at the 2006 World Cup. There's not a lot to split their careers, with both winning three Swiss league titles at Basel (two together), though Philipp has over twice the caps. Philipp probably edges it, though, having (barely) played for Liverpool and spending three seasons at Borussia Dortmund. 

13. Thomas and Andreas Ravelli

Former goalkeeper Thomas is revered as one of Sweden's greatest ever players, while Andreas managed to muster a perfectly respectable 41 international caps of his own.

14. Rogelio and Ramiro Funes Mori

Both the sons of a professional footballer, Ramiro (the centre-back) is the one who used to play for Everton, while Rogelio (the striker) has been banging in the goals for Monterrey for the past four years -- to the point where he's actually their second-highest scorer of all time.

15. Rachael and Megan Rapinoe

Of course, Megan is the iconic two-time World Cup-winning star of the USWNT, as well as the recipient of the 2019 Women's Ballon d'Or and former Best FIFA Women's Player award winner.

You may not know that her twin sister, Rachael (pictured above with Megan's partner and WNBA legend Sue Bird) also represented the United States at under-23 level and spent a season playing pro football in Iceland with Stjarnan Women in 2010.

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