8 of football’s most famous pairs of twins: Timbers, Nainggolans, De Boers…

Some of football’s biggest stars past and present boast the unique fact of being a twin whose sibling has also played the beautiful game.

Siblings in football is rare enough, so to be a twin and both be talented enough to make it in professional football is pure greed, in our opinion. Was one obscenely talented child simply not enough?

Before we go on a rant about how we would’ve made it pro if not for twins hoarding all the talent, we’d like to take you on a journey of eight examples of twins in football. Some you’ll know; others you’ll have had no idea about.

Jurrien & Quinten Timber

Something is going on in the Netherlands, because despite twins in football being a rarity, Jurrien and Quinten Timber just became the third set of twins to play together for the Dutch national team.

The two both came on as substitutes and shared the pitch as the Oranje beat Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Nations League. While Jurrien is known for playing his football at Arsenal, the slightly lesser-known Quinten plays for Feyenoord and is an Eredivisie winner as well as a two-time KNVB Cup winner.

Frank & Ronald de Boer

Before the Timbers, there was the De Boers – and they were a seriously talented duo.

While Frank hasn’t quite cut the mustard as a manager at the top level, his legacy as a player cannot be denied as the man with the third-most caps for the national team, a Champions League and league titles with Ajax and Barcelona.

Ronald, meanwhile, also won La Liga alongside his twin brother at Barcelona and the Champions League at Ajax, but did so as a forward instead of a defender and has worked at Ajax in his post-playing career.

Rafael & Fabio Da Silva

Scout Les Kershaw described Rafael and Fabio as ‘two little whippets’ upon discovering them at Fluminense, before they signed for Manchester United in 2008.

Rafael managed to become a regular at United under Sir Alex Ferguson before eventually leaving for Lyon, but Fabio struggled to break in at left-back. The pair both left permanently in 2014, but while Rafael headed to France, Fabio moved to Wales to sign for Cardiff.

Now 34, Rafael and Fabio are both back in Brazil; the former plays for Botafogo while the latter is at Gremio. Both achieved two caps each for Brazil.

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Lars & Sven Bender

Both defenders but versatile, Lars and Sven Bender were never fully appreciated by the German national team, with Lars earning 19 caps and Sven earning seven, but both enjoyed fantastic careers in the Bundesliga.

The twins started out at 1860 Munich, but Lars spent the rest of his career with Bayer Leverkusen after moving in 2009, while Sven spent the bulk of his with Borussia Dortmund before joining Leverkusen in 2017.

Lars and Sven both retired at Leverkusen in 2021; the latter has since returned to Dortmund as assistant manager.

Radja & Riana Nainggolan

You know all about Nainggolan, the crazy, mohawked midfield menace who strutted his stuff for Cagliari, Roma and Inter in his prime. But did you know he had a twin sister? Probably not.

Riana Nainggolan has also played football professionally, also turning out for Roma when Radja was at the club and playing futsal during her career.

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TRY A QUIZ: Can you name the top three of every Ballon d’Or award of the 2000s?

Hamit & Halil Altintop

Hamit Altintop is more than just a former footballer with one of the most iconic long shots in the game; he’s a twin to Halil Altintop.

Identical twins, both Hamit and Halil enjoyed successful careers for club and country at the top level. While Halil didn’t reach the heights of Real Madrid in his peak, the attacker did enjoy strong spells at Kaiserslautern and Schalke and is working towards a career in coaching.

The pair received a combined 120 caps for Turkey, with Hamit now sitting on the board for the Turkish Football Federation. A talented pair.

Ramiro & Rogelio Funes Mori

Another set of identical twins, you might remember Ramiro Funes Mori for his three-year association with Everton from 2015 to 2018.

The defender endured an injury-hit time in Merseyside but found success in Europe with Villarreal before leaving the continent. Meanwhile, his identical twin Rogelio has carved out a successful career predominantly in Mexico with Monterrey, but has also played in Portugal and Turkey.

Interestingly, Rogelio – a striker – chose to represent Mexico at senior international level after being granted citizenship, while Ramiro represented Argentina, where the twins were born before they moved to the United States.

Megan & Rachael Rapinoe

Megan Rapinoe needs no introduction as a Ballon d’Or winner, Olympic gold medallist and two-time World Cup winner, but you’d be forgiven for not knowing about her twin sister.

Rachael represented the United States at under-23 level and played football professionally in Iceland with Stjarnan after a successful stint with the Universit of Portland’s Portland Pilots team, where she was studying alongside playing.

Injuries ultimately proved the undoing of her career, however, and forced her into retirement and a grapple with opioid addiction. She is now the co-founder of Mendi, a CBD company, having previously obtained a Master’s degree in Health Studies.