10 soccer players you didn’t know are actually related

There are certain families for whom playing football at an exceptionally high level seems to just come naturally.

Successful footballing brothers such as the Charlton’s (Sirs Bobby and Jack), the Laudrup’s (Michael and Brian), the Neville’s (Gary and Phil), the De Boer’s (Frank and Ronald) and the Toure’s (Yaya and Kolo) amongst others have all left their indelible mark on the beautiful game.

Sometimes football families are spread across generations too. Just think of these famous footballing fathers and sons; Cesare and Paulo Maldini, Johan and Jordi Cruyff, Carles and Sergio Busquets and of course, Abedi Pele and his two boys Andre and Jordan Ayew.
The aforementioned names are all famous across the football globe for the successes they enjoyed on the pitch and anyone who knows a thing or two about football is well aware of their family connections.

However, there are loads of other relations playing the game at an elite level, ranging from brothers to cousins to fathers to the slightly more tenuous link of brothers in law.
Here are ten such players who you may be surprised are related (even if just a little bit).

1. Lionel Messi & Bojan Krkic (distant cousins)

The Argentina international appears to be related to the Spain forward as both players share the same forefathers

An investigation by Diari Segre has revealed that Bareolona attacker Lionel Messi and Mainz 05's forward Bojan Krkic are distant cousins.
It became known that the Argentina international has Catalan roots and it now turns out that his great-grandfather was the brother of Bojan's great-grandfather.
The families of both players share the surname Perez, stemming from ancestors who moved from Teruel to Poal in the 18th century.
Ramon Perez Llobera, Messi's great-grandfather, was born in 1859 and his brother Goncal, Bojan's great-grandfather, was born in El Poal nine years later.
Ramon's granddaughter, Rosa Maria Perez Mateu, eventually emigrated to Argentina, where she married Eusebio Messi Baro. Their son is the father of the current Barcelona ace.
Messi and Bojan played together at Barcelona until the latter's move to Stoke City in the January transfer window.

2. Jay-Jay Okocha & Alex Iwobi (Uncle and nephew)

There was plenty of excitement when young Alex Iwobi burst onto the scene towards the backend of last season for Arsenal due to his impressive and intelligent displays on the left flank.
International recognition with Nigeria followed upon which it emerged that he is directly related to one of the Super Eagles finest ever talents; the one and only Jay-Jay Okocha.
Okocha, whose mercurial talents lit up dreary Bolton for five years, is Iwobi’s nephew and has no doubt passed on some pearls of wisdom (and as importantly, some outrageous skills) to his young family member down the years.

3. Emir Spahic & Edin Dzeko (Cousins)

How about this for some football trivia. Bosnia & Herzegovina’s all-time appearance maker and top goalscorer happen to be cousins!
The no-nonsense defender Emir Spahic has accumulated 93 caps since making his debut for his country back in 2003, while his younger cousin Edin Dzeko leads the way for goals scored with half a century.
Both players have played an integral role in their country’s impressive rise in recent years, helping them qualify for their first-ever major tournament at the Brazil World Cup in 2014.

 4. Thiago Alcantara & Rafinha (Brothers) & Rodrigo Moreno (Cousin)

Now, this really is an impressive football family. It is common knowledge that Bayern Munich’s midfield metronome Thiago Alcantara and Barcelona’s livewire forward Rafinha are brothers, but perhaps less well known is that Valencia’s attacker Rodrigo is also their cousin.
Rodrigo hasn’t had the best of times since becoming Valencia’s all-time record signing but he is certainly a gifted forward, making this an extremely talented trio of relatives.
Oh, and Thiago and Rafinha’s father was also pretty handy with the ball at his feet too. Mazinho was part of the Brazil squad that won the World Cup in 1994, around 18-months after Rafinha had been born.

 5. McDonald Mariga & Victor Wanyama (Brothers)

Kenya is a country more associated with long-distance running than football, but the East African country has produced a few handy footballers in recent years, most notably the midfield siblings McDonal Mariga and Victor Wanyama.
Mariga famously became the first Kenyan ever to win the Champions League in 2010 when he was named on the bench as Inter defeated Bayern Munich 2-0 to win the treble, while his younger brother Wanyama has established himself as a key player at Spurs after starring for first Celtic and then Southampton on British shores.
These days, Mariga is playing for Latina in Serie B, while Wanyama captains the Kenyan national team.

6. Leroy Fer & Patrick van Aanholt (Cousins)

Both Patrick van Aanholt and Leroy Fer have been capped by the Netherlands at most age groups including the senior team, but their parents actually hail from the tiny island Curacao.
The cousins started their careers at two of Holland’s biggest clubs, Van Aanholt with PSV and Fer at Feyenoord before they found their way over to the Premier League, playing for Crystal Palace and Swansea City respectively.
Not bad Fantasy Football options, these two.

7. Lomana & Kazenga Lua Lua (Brothers) & Yannick Bolasie (Cousin)

Only 11 footballers hailing from the Democratic Republic of Congo have played in the Premier League and three of them are related, the Lua Lua brothers and Everton’s chief trickster Yannick Bolasie.
Lomana enjoyed a few productive years in the top-flight while playing for Portsmouth after starting out at Newcastle alongside his younger brother Kazenga, who can now be seen terrorizing defences in the Championship with Brighton.
Bolasie, meanwhile, has established himself as one of the Premier League’s most dangerous wide midfielder’s and earned a big-money £25m move to Goodison Park from Crystal Palace in 2016

 8. Joel Matip & Marvin Matip (Brothers) & Joseph-Désiré Job (Cousin)

Remember Joseph-Désiré Job? Middlesbrough fans certainly should, as the Cameroonian forward spent six years on Riverside and even scored one of the two goals as they won their first ever trophy, the 2004 League Cup.
Job retired from the game in 2011 following a spell with Lierse in Belgium, but he has a couple of cousins still playing professionally in the form of Marvin Matip at Augsburg and Joel who is impressing on Merseyside with Liverpool.

9. Seydou Keita and Mohamed Sissoko (Cousins)

Malian footballing royalty Salif Keïta, named African Footballer of the Year in 1970, has seen his lineage continue in two of his nephews Seydou Keita and “Momo” Sissoko. The cousins between them have won 23 pieces of silverware including five championships across Spain and France.
However, there’s no doubting that Seydou is the more illustrious of the others, having been part of the all-conquering Barcelona team of Pep Guardiola, who incidentally described Mali’s record appearance maker as his “ethical and moral barometer”.
Keita today represents El Jaish in Qatar whilst Sissoko is based in India with FC Pune City.

10. David Ospina & James Rodriguez

David Ospina and James Rodriguez must spend plenty of time together as not only do they share a dressing room with the Colombian national team, they also see each other at family gatherings too after Rodriguez married Ospina’s sister Daniela in 2011.