Euro 2024: Players who could have played under other flags

Jamal Musiala faced the difficult choice between his native Germany or England, where he spent most of his youth from the age of 7. Nine years later, the Chelsea academy product moved back to Germany to join Bayern Munich. It was here that he chose Germany over England, although he had worn the Three Lions at various youth levels. He made his debut for the Nationalmannschaft in March 2021.

It's hard to imagine superstar Kylian Mbappe wearing any other national team's jersey than that of France's Les Bleus, but he also had the choice of two other countries. Through his Cameroon-born father, he could have chosen the Indomitable Lions or, through his mother's Algerian origin, the Fennec Foxes. However, he has only ever represented France, both at junior and senior levels.

Mateo Retegui is a relative newcomer to Italy, having been born and raised in Argentina. He made his professional debut in 2018 at the Boca Juniors. After loan spells at three other Argentine teams, he moved to Italy, the land of two of his grandparents, to join Serie A outfit Genoa. Being eligible to represent Italy through descent, he made his debut for the Azzurri in March 2023.

Callum Styles doesn't sound like your typical Hungarian name, and yet internationally he wears the colors of the Magyarok. Born in Greater Manchester in England, Styles may not have had what it takes to be chosen for the Three Lions, but he could also have chosen Ukraine, as he has both Hungarian and Ukrainian grandparents. He made his debut for Hungary in a friendly against Serbia in March 2022.

Born in Gelsenkirchen, llkay Gündogan broke through with Dortmund before moving on to Manchester City and now Barcelona. Ahead of the 2018 World Cup, he along with fellow Germany player Mesut Özil met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, sparking controversy in Germany. While Özil retired from the national team shortly after the World Cup, Gündogan has stayed true to his native Germany.

Lamine Yamal made his first team debut for Barcelona at the age of just 15 years and 9 months in April 2023. Six months later, he made his senior debut for Spain at 16 and 50 days, scoring against Georgia in a 7-1 win — becoming Spain's youngest-ever player and goal scorer. Spain's gain is both Morocco's and Equatorial Guinea's loss, as he could have represented either due to his parents' origins.

Jeremie Frimpong (left) is just embarking on his Dutch national team career, while Memphis Depay (second from right) is a mainstay for the Oranje and within striking distance of his 100th cap. Through his father, Memphis theoretically could have chosen Ghana. Amsterdam native Frimpong is also of Ghanaian descent — but also had a third option, as his family moved to England when he was 7.

Still just 31, the well-traveled Romelu Lukaku (right) spent the past season on loan at Roma from Chelsea. He first represented Belgium at under-15 level and debuted for the senior men's side in a friendly against Croatia in March 2010. Since then, he has become Belgium's all-time top goal scorer with 83 in 114 appearances. He chose Belgium over his parents' native Democratic Republic of Congo.

Hakan Calhanoglu is one of the German-born players of Turkish origin who decided to represent the land of his parents. The Mannheim native first represented Turkey at under-16 level and made his debut in the full national team in September 2013. The 30-year-old has never played for a Turkish club, having started out in Germany and then moving on to Serie A, where he now plays for Inter.

Rafael Leao (center) was born outside of Lisbon and came up through the Sporting CP system before making his senior debut for the club in February 2018. Through his parents, he could have chosen Angola or Sao Tome and Principe, but this never seems to have been a serious consideration. Now 24, the winger represented Portugal at various youth levels before making his senior debut in October 2021.

Josip Stanisic (right) is but one example of German-born descendants of guest workers from the countries of the former Yugoslavia who face a tough choice. Stanisic made two appearances for Germany's under-19s, but by the time he advanced to U21 level, he had had a change of heart, choosing to represent the Vatreni of his forebears. In 2021 he made his debut for Croatia's senior men's team.

Both Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri have more than 120 caps for Switzerland, and both started out at Basel. Something else they share: in theory, both could have chosen to represent Albania, as did Granit's brother Taulant — due to their Kosovo-Albanian heritage. Shaqiri was even born there. After Kosovo was accepted into FIFA in 2016, they even would have had a third country to choose from.