World Cup 2026 boasts not one but two Doues.
Desire Doue, the 21-year-old Paris Saint-Germain winger, has a ferocious reputation and back-to-back Champions League winner's medals to verify his exceptional abilities at Europe's newly dominant club.
Doue is at the World Cup with France and shares a last name with another player in another team. Guela Doue, 23 years old and playing for Strasbourg and Ivory Coast, is there too.
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Are Guela Doue and Desire Doue related?
Ivory Coast's Guela Doue and France Desire Doue are brothers from Angers in the west of France. Guela, the older of the two, is a defender who joined Strasbourg from Rennes two summers ago.
Like his younger brother, Guela is a dual citizen and directly eligible to play for Ivory Coast, which he did for the first time in March 2024. He was called up by Emerse Fae for the World Cup and has played in all four of the Elephants' matches.
The brothers were born to a French mother and Ivorian father, and Desire elected to represent his birth nation, France, at international level.
He also left Rennes in 2024 and has revealed himself to be one of European football's outstanding prospects.
Doue the younger has already won Ligue 1 twice as well as the Champions League in the same two seasons. Didier Deschamps will fancy a World Cup winner's medal to go with them.
There are other examples of brothers playing for different international teams over the years and a couple of them are also involved at World Cup 2026.
Sunderland midfielder Granit Xhaka has represented Switzerland with distinction since 2011 and is hoping to lead them beyond the round of 32. His brother is Taulant Xhaka, a former pro who played international football for Albania. Both were born in Kosovo.
Spain's Nico Williams is at the World Cup but suffered an injury courtesy of Uruguay's Nicolas de la Cruz at the end of the group stage.
His brother is Inaki Williams, who is in the Ghana squad and played in their 0-0 draw with England in the group stage.
Ghana's best World Cup performance to date came in 2010, when their squad included Berlin-born Kevin-Prince Boateng for the first time. His half-brother, Jerome Boateng, was there with Germany.
