Wilfried Zaha and Jack Grealish could meet on the pitch at Wembley next week – but the players could easily wear other countries’ national shirts.
The two stars may go head-to-head when England face Ivory Coast in a friendly match.

But these two men are not the only ones who represented their countries and later switched sides.
In fact, some of the greatest players on the planet – past and present, have done the same.
Players can exchange countries if they are under the age of 21 and have participated in more than three competitive matches.
The rules weren’t very strict though, with many big-name players switching allegiances over the years.


Take a look at the best eleven of the nation’s swaps.
It’s an outrageous offensive lineup.
But we think he could take on some of the best international teams ever.
And we start with the goal with a stopper that Premier League fans know well:
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A goal keeper – Asmir Begovic
Born in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Izetbegovic moved with his family to Canada when he was ten years old.
The Everton goalkeeper played 11 games for the Canada Under-20 team and looked ready to break into their first team.
But in 2009, Izetbegovic chose to play for his country of birth – and has won 63 caps since then.
defender – Victor Moses
Born in Nigeria and raised in London, Musa has played for the England Under-162, Under-17, Under-19 and Under-21 national team.
But he gave up his position in the first team and moved to the country of his birth in 2012, where he played 37 international matches.
He helped them achieve glory in the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.
defender – Nevin Subotic
Subotic was born in Bosnia and Herzegovina (then Yugoslavia) but grew up in the USA, where he played for the U-17 and U-20 national team.
In 2008, he chose to play for Serbia – for which he qualified through his Bosnian Serb parents – and played 36 matches.
defender – Declan rice
Rice won three caps for Ireland in 2018 having worked his way through the youth teams thanks to his grandparents being Irish.
But he switched to England controversially the following year.
The London-born star proved the place of his heart by playing a key role in last year’s race to the Euro 2020 final.
He hopes to add to his 27 international appearances when the Three Lions face Switzerland in Ivory Coast.
Midfielder – Thiago Motta
The former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain star was born in Brazil but qualified for Italy thanks to his grandfather on his father’s side.
Having played twice for Brazil in the 2003 Gold Cup, Motta later switched allegiance to play for Italy eight After years.
Motta played 30 caps for Italy and was part of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2016 squad.
Right winger – Wilfried Zaha
Having made his way between England’s Under-17 and Under-20 teams, Zaha made his England debut in a friendly against Sweden in 2012, replacing fellow junior Raheem Sterling.
But after dropping the selection standings, Zaha switched to Ivory Coast at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, where he has played 20 caps so far.
Roy Hodgson, the former Zaha coach at Palace for the past four years, has admitted he regretted not playing as a winger in a competitive match to tie him up with England, despite giving him his first match against Sweden.
Now he will be looking to land in England next week.
Attack – Midfield – Michel Platini
After scoring 41 goals in 72 appearances for France, and helping them win the 1984 Euros, Platini stopped in 1987.
But he came out of retirement to play strangely with Kuwait in a friendly match against the Soviet Union in 1988, where he played 21 minutes of defeat 2-0.
Left winger – Jack Grealish
Grealish was born in Birmingham and made his way through the Irish youth teams thanks to his paternal grandparents and his maternal grandfather coming from Ireland.
Despite having played six times for Ireland’s Under-21 team, England plundered him just as well before the former Aston Villa captain made himself an important part of the Three Lions squad.
Now in the Manchester City championship, Grealish is likely to be involved with England over the next week.
straight ahead – Alfredo Di Stefano
Incredibly, the legend is Real Madrid’s forward for Argentina, Colombia And the Spain during his illustrious career.
Di Stefano was born in Argentina and made six caps with them, before moving to Colombia and winning another four.
Eight years later – and ten years after his last match for Argentina – he won his first international for Spain – scoring 23 times in 31 matches.
straight ahead – Diego Costa
In 2013, during his second spell at Atlético Madrid, Costa played two matches for his country, Brazil.
But he immediately applied for Spanish citizenship and after it was approved in 2014, he moved directly to the first team.
Costa played for Spain in two World Cups and scored ten goals in 24 matches in total.
Ahead – Ferenc Puskas
The former Real Madrid scoring machine has been named Goal of the Year after her.
He scored 84 goals in 85 matches for Hungary between 1945 and 1956.
Puskas, however, moved to Spain in 1961 in the middle of his time at Los Blancos, but failed to score in four international matches.