The FIFA World Cup is the most prestigious global football tournament along with the Champions League. The tournament has been awarded every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 due to Second World War.
Since 1930, a number of families had the distinct honor of representing his national teams with two and even three members at various FIFA World Cups. What’s more, some father-son duos participated in tournaments with different national teams, but the same names!
1. LUIS PÉREZ & MARIO PÉREZ
Luis Pérez González, who was born in 1907, was a Mexican forward player, and he made two appearances for the Mexico national team against France and Chile at the 1930 FIFA World Cup. By the way, France-Mexico was the opening game of Uruguay 1930, and also the first World Cup match ever.
His grandson, Mario Perez, was also an essential part of Mexico that reached quarterfinals in the 1970 Mexico. Mario was a defender and played four games with his 5-number shirt.
2. MARTÍ VANTOLRÁ & JOSÉ VANTOLRÁ
Martí Ventolrà was born in Barcelona as a Catalan and played for Sevilla FC and FC Barcelona (73 goals in 125 games) while he had been living in Spain. He participated in the 1934 World Cup in Italy, where he showed an outstanding performance, promoting to the quarterfinals against the host and future tournament champion. He played his last international match in 1936.
However, Martí Ventolrá was a prominent Catalan and republican nationalist. With the start of the Civil War, FC Barcelona participated in a tour of Mexico, where Martín was exiled. He resumed in Spain, then moved to Atlante, with which he was proclaimed top scorer in the 1940/4 season. With the Atlante, he played until the 1949 season, with 43 years of age.
His son José Vantolrá was a Mexican international and played in the 1970 World Cup, which makes him the only father-son pair to compete in two World Cups with two different teams.
3. ROGER RIO & PATRICE RIO
Patrice Rio was a defender of FC Nantes, which held four titles between 1973 and 1983. He was also a member of the French squad that competed at the 1978 FIFA World Cup.
His father, Roger, was a French international footballer, who made two appearances for the France national team in the 1934 FIFA World Cup.
4. DOMINGOS DA GUIA & ADEMIR DA GUIA
Domingos Antônio da Guia, who was born in 1912 in Rio de Janeiro, played in four matches for Brazil in the 1938 FIFA World Cup finals. According to Sky Sports, he is regarded as one of the best Brazilian defenders of all time. He was a lynchpin in Brazil’s defense during their World Cup showing in 1938, as he helped his nation finish third at the tournament hosted in France.
His son, Ademir da Guia, called as O Divino (The Divine One) thanks to his fantastic close control and passing ability. He played in the runner-up match for third place against Poland at the 1974 FIFA World Cup as the playmaker. He is still regarded as one of the club’s all-time best players.
5. TOMÁS BALCÁZAR & JAVIER HERNÁNDEZ GUTIÉRREZ & JAVIER HERNÁNDEZ BALCÁZAR
Tomás Balcazar is considered as a legend in Mexico for being a part of “campeonísimo”, which refers to the historic Guadalajara team that won 8 titles in 10 years. What’s more, he took pride in scoring at the 1954 Switzerland against France when he was 22.
As you noticed on the title, Tomás and Javier Hernández have different surnames because of the fact that Tomás is the father-in-law of Javier Hernández, who was also a member of the Mexico squad at the 1986 FIFA World Cup.
By the way, Tomás’s family has another member as a football player too! His grandson Javier Hernández Balcázar, who is globally known by his nickname Chicharito, also scored a goal in FIFA World Cup organization. As a twist of fate, Chicharito was 22 years old just like his grandson when he scored at the 2010 South Africa.
6. CESARE MALDINI & PAOLO MALDINI
Two generations of AC Milan legendary defenders!
Cesare was a defender that won four Serie A league titles and one European Cup during his twelve seasons in Milan. He also played for Italy at the 1962 FIFA World Cup in Chile. Moreover, he coached the Italy national team at the 1998 France and Paraguay at the 2002 Japan & South Korea.
Paolo, ‘Il Capitano’, is another legend that spent all 25 seasons of his career in the Serie A with Milan, before retiring at the age of 41 in 2009. He won 25 trophies with Milan: the UEFA Champions League five times, seven Serie A titles, one Coppa Italia, five Supercoppa Italiana titles, four European Super Cups, two Intercontinental Cups one FIFA Club World Cup. He, unfortunately, did not take part in the Italy national team at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, while the cup was lifting on the Italian player. Nevertheless, Paolo made 126 appearances for the Italy national team and participated in four FIFA World Cups.
7. MANUEL SANCHÍS MARTÍNEZ & MANUEL SANCHÍS HONTIYUELO
Manuel Sanchís Martínez was a Real Madrid legend that played in 213 La Liga games during ten seasons. He also took part as a defender of Spain national team at the 1966 FIFA World Cup in England.
Manuel Sanchís Hontiyuelo, just like his father, wore Real Madrid and Spain national team uniform as a sweeper. As the only of Quinta del Buitre’s five members to play his entire career with Real Madrid, he had appeared in more than 700 official games for his club and became a member of Spain national team at the 1990 Italy.
PS: Manuel Sanchís’ was one of only three father/son pairs to have won the European Cup/Champions League (along with Cesare & Paolo Maldini and Carles & Sergio Busquets).
8. JEAN DJORKAEFF & YOURI DJORKAEFF
Jean Djorkaeff, who was a striker in his early career, was a famous defender in French football during the second half of the 1960s. He played for only three clubs, including Lyon, Marseille and Paris FC, and also France national team at the 1966 FIFA World Cup.
His son, Youri, was the more offensive footballer than Jean and served as an attacking midfielder and a striker to lots of clubs in France, Italy, Germany, England and the USA. More importantly, he was an essential part of French while they won the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000.
9. MIGUEL REINA & PEPE REINA
Let’s think about a family, both father and son have high-level goalkeeper careers!
Miguel – who played more than 300 La Liga games, mainly for Barcelona and Atlético Madrid – was a member of Spain national team at the 1966 England, even if he waited on the bench throughout the tournament.
Pepe witnessed the most magnificent era of Spain national team; they won their first World Cup ever in 2010 as well as two victories at the 2008 and 2012 UEFA European Championships. Like his father, Following his Barcelona years, he had played for Villareal, Liverpool and Bayern Munich. Napoli. Nowadays, he is giving effort on contending with Juventus as the goalkeeper of Napoli.
10. PABLO FORLÁN & DIEGO FORLÁN
Pablo, who played for a number of clubs in South America, was defensive player of Uruguay national team at the 1974 FIFA World Cup in Germany. Even if he had not so much appearance in Uruguay national team between 1966 and 1976, he played an active role on his teams’ league domestic championships and Copa Libertadores victory.
Diego, unlike his father, put the jersey on clubs and the national team as a striker. Along with his remarkable performance and awards – such as Pichichi Trophy and European Golden Shoe – in his club career, he wore Uruguay jersey more than 100 games and regarded as one of the greatest Uruguayan players of all time thanks to successes at the national team. He was the joint top scorer by scoring five goals as Uruguay came fourth at the 2010 World Cup, being recognised with the Golden Ball award for the best player at the tournament. Moreover, he came to the fore with his high performance at the victory of Uruguay at the 2011 Copa América.
11. NICOLAE LUPESCU & IONUŢ LUPESCU
Nicolae Lupescu, who played for Rapid București for ten seasons and Admira Wacker for five seasons during his career, carried Romanian flag on his chest for 74 games and represented his country at the 1970 FIFA World Cup as a defender.
Ionut, son of Nicolae, played as a midfielder between 1986 and 2002 in Liga I, Bundesliga, Turkish Super League and Saudi Professional League. He made scored six goals for Romania national team in 74 appearances and also participated at the Euro 1996 in England, and the Euro 2000 in Belgium and the Netherlands.
12. JAN VERHEYEN & GERT VERHEYEN
As a midfielder of K. Beerschot and Anderlecht, Jan Verheyen earned 33 caps for the Belgium national football team and participated in the 1970 FIFA World Cup and the Euro 1972.
Gert Verheyen, who played as a striker for Lierse, Anderlecht and Club Brugge, represented the 1998 France and the 2002 South Korea & Japan as well as the Euro 2000 that was organized in Belgium.
13. JULIO MONTERO CASTILLO & PAOLO MONTERO
Julio Montero Castillo was a defender of Uruguay national team at the 1970 FIFA World Cup and the 1974 FIFA World Cup. He also made a total of 68 Copa Libertadores appearances between 1966 and 1973, while playing for Liverpool Montevideo, Nacional and CA Independiente.
His son, Paolo, started his defender career in Peñarol where he retired from too. He witnessed four Serie A titles with Juventus, and he participated in the 2002 FIFA World Cup with the Uruguay national football team.
14. ANDERS LINDEROTH & TOBIAS LINDEROTH
Anders, who has been working as a coach, played for Swedish teams Näsby, Stattena, Helsingborgs, Östers and Mjällby aside from Olympique de Marseille in Ligue 1 throughout his midfielder career. Anders, who scored two goals in 40 games with Sweden national team, was also a member of Sweden at the 1978 FIFA World Cup.
Tobias, as known as a dynamo in the midfield, participated to two FIFA World Cups tournaments in 2002 and 2006. According to his profile on Wikipedia, he ran 14.6 kilometres during a game during a World Cup game in 2002, and this could be considered as an unusual running performance for a typical footballer.
15. ROY ANDERSSON & PATRICK ANDERSSON & DANIEL ANDERSSON
Roy Andersson, who was a strong central defender for Malmö for 15 years, played three games at the 1978 FIFA World Cup. His two sons, Patrik and Daniel were also Swedish footballers who earned caps for the Swedish national team.
Patrik, who was Roy’s older son, played as a defender at the high-level teams around Europe such as Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Blackburn Rovers and Borussia Monchengladbach as well as Malmö throughout his football career. Bayern Munich won 2000–2001 UEFA Champions League, while he missed the penalty in the final shootout. Andersson scored four goals in a total of 96 games for the Swedish national team and won a bronze medal in the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Andersson also participated to the 2002 FIFA World Cup, the 1992 European Championship and the Euro 2000 as a member of the Swedish squad.
Unlike his father and elder brother, Daniel is a defensive midfielder, who could have also played as a centre back. He played for Malmo, Bari, Venezia, Chievo and Ancona. He was a squad member of Sweden national team for two FIFA World Cups in 2002 and 2016 as well as two European Championships in 2000 and 2008.
16. MIGUEL ÁNGEL ALONSO & XABI ALONSO
Miguel Ángel, who played as a midfielder mainly for Real Sociedad and Barcelona, was a member of Spain national team at the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain.
His sons Mikel and Xabi followed his father’s way and became professional midfielders of Real Sociedad in San Sebastián. While Mikel did not wear Spain national team jersey during his career; Xabi – little brother – witnessed the most magnificent era of Spain national team; they won their first World Cup ever in 2010 as well as two victories at the UEFA European Championship, 2008 and 2012. He played for Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, and won two UEFA Champions League during his professional career.
17. JÁN KOZÁK & JÁN KOZÁK
Ján Kozák, who played as a midfielder mainly in the Czechoslovakian league throughout his professional career, participated to the 1982 FIFA World Cup and Euro 1980. Moreover, Slovakia qualified for the Euro 2016, meaning the first participation of Slovakia to this tournament, while Ján was coaching Slovakia national team.
His son, Ján, played as an attacking midfielder for various teams in Slovakia, France, England, Greece and Uzbekistan. While he made the squad for Slovakia’s World Cup debut in 2010, he scored two goals with Slovakia national team, both were against San Marino.
18. WŁODZIMIERZ SMOLAREK & EUZEBIUSZ SMOLAREK
Włodzimierz Smolarek was a Polish striker who played for Widzew Łódź, Legia Warsaw, Eintracht Frankfurt, Feyenoord, and Utrecht. He appeared at the 1982 and 1986 FIFA World Cup and scored one goal at each tournament.
Euzebiusz’s grew up in the Netherlands because of the fact that his father was playing for Feyenoord and Utrecht in the Eredivisie. Thus, he became professional in Feyenoord and then played for Borussia Dortmund, Racing Santander, Bolton Wanderers.
A Polish international since 2002, Smolarek was selected for the 2006 FIFA World Cup but failed to score any goals. As a striker of Poland national team, he participated to the 2006 FIFA World Cup and the Euro 2008.
19. CHA BUM-KUN & CHA DU-RI
Cha Bum-Kun, who was nicknamed as Tscha Bum in Germany by Kicker, has played for SV Darmstadt 98, Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer 04 Leverkusen throughout his career. He was given the title Asia’s Player of the Century by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics due to his outstanding career in Bundesliga and the national team. Cha represented South Korea in the 1986 Mexico. He played for the national team 135 times and scored 58 goals, meaning the all-time leading goal scorer for South Korea.
As the son of a legendary forward, Cha Du-Ri was born in Germany and played as a right-back player mostly in Bundesliga. He contributed to the national team while advancing to the semi-finals at the 2002 FIFA World Cup that was organized in his country and Japan. He also represented his national team at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
20. VLADIMIR WEISS & VLADIMIR WEISS
Just as Ján Kozáks, Vladimir Weiss’ were another father-son who represented Czechoslovakia and Slovakia at different FIFA World Cups.
Father Weiss was a midfielder and played in Czech and Slovakia leagues during his footballer career. While he earned 19 caps for Czechoslovakia and also 12 caps for Slovakia, he participated in the 1990 World Cup for Czechoslovakia.
Son Weiss, whose career began in Manchester City, is a winger that then joined Bolton Wanderers, Rangers, Espanyol, Pescara and Olympiacos. He has been playing for Qatari clubs for four years. Vladimir has served Slovakia national team since 2009, and represented Slovakia at the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the Euro 2016. What’s more, he scored Slovakia’s first goal ever in European football championships.
21. ALEXANDRE GUIMARÃES & CELSO BORGES
Alexandre Guimarães, who was a Brazilian-born midfielder, represented Costa Rica at the 1990 FIFA World Cup. He has also coached the Costa Rica national football team in the 2002 Korea-Japan and the 2006 Germany.
Celso Borges, just like his father, is a professional midfielder and currently playing for Deportivo de La Coruña in La Liga. Celso Borges scored 21 goals in a total of 94 games for the Costa Rica national football team and participated the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
22. DANNY BLIND & DALEY BLIND
Danny Blind, who played as a defender for Sparta Rotterdam and Ajax, earned 42 caps for the Netherlands over a ten-year period, represented the Netherlands in the World Cups in 1990 and 1994 as well as the Euro 1992 and the Euro 1996.
Daley is a complex defender, that can play as a defensive midfielder, left-back, and centre-back currently for Manchester United. Daley is also an active player of the Netherlands national team and won a bronze medal at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.