Champions League match refereed by identical twins

The UEFA Champions League hosted a chaotic clash between Girona and Feyenoord on Wednesday, which produced five goals (including two own goals), two saved penalties, one disallowed effort and a thrilling 3-2 victory for the visitors.

For all the dizzying twists and turns, the match at Girona’s rain-affected Montilivi Stadium was also notable for another reason, with fans in the stands and on TV doing a double take.

Benjamin and Marco Zürcher, identical twins, were the assistant referees, while their fellow Swiss official, Urs Schnyder, was the man in the middle.

The Zürcher brothers, both 38 years old and from Switzerland, often work together and have regularly assisted matches in the Swiss Super League, the UEFA Nations League and European club competitions.

Spot the difference 👀

The assistant referees for Girona – Feyenoord are identical twins Marco Zurcher and Benjamin Zurcher!

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— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) October 2, 2024

The team of officials certainly had their work cut out for them as the action unfolded in Catalonia as Girona took an early lead only to be overtaken by Feyenoord in bizarre circumstances.

The Dutch visitors benefited from two own goals from the Spanish hosts, who also had a goal disallowed at 2-2 when one of the Zürchers marked for offside in the build-up. Sure enough, the prevailing VAR review showed that Donny van de Beek had strayed inches past the last man and the call was upheld.

Both sides also managed to miss a penalty each before the winning goal was eventually scored for Feyenoord by Girona defender Ladislav Krejcí in the final stages.

However, there was still time for Girona to deny a penalty claim for handball in the 96th minute, which was eventually ended by the sound of the final whistle after several minutes of discussion between the referees. Phew.

While they may not be professional players themselves, we think the Zürchers deserve their place on the list of famous football twins, alongside some of football’s true greats.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated since it was first published on May 15, 2020

Frank and Ronald de Boer

The De Boer brothers are not only the most famous football twins of all time, but also perhaps the most successful. Together the pair won 179 caps for the Netherlands and a total of 33 winners’ medals over the course of their playing careers, including the Champions League.

In fact, Frank and Ronald played together for no fewer than five different clubs: Ajax, Barcelona, ​​​​Rangers in Europe and then Al-Rayyan and Al-Shamal in Qatar.

René and Willy van de Kerkhof

The Van de Kerkhof brothers were forerunners of the De Boers, with the Dutch-born twins playing together for both FC Twente and PSV Eindhoven. They also both went to the 1974 and 1978 World Cups, losing in the finals of both tournaments.

Of course, Megan is the iconic two-time World Cup-winning star of the USWNT, as well as the recipient of the 2019 Women’s Ballon d’Or and FIFA The Best Women’s Player award.

You may not know that her twin sister, Rachael, also represented the United States under 23 and played a season of professional soccer in Iceland with Stjarnan Women in 2010.

Should they both make the first team, the Fletchers won’t be the first twins to play in the same team at Old Trafford. Brazilian full-backs Fabio and Rafael made a name for themselves at Manchester United after signing for Fluminense together in 2008. They played alongside each other for the next six years before going their separate ways.

The pair both played in Ligue 1 – Fabio at Nantes, Rafael at Lyon – before returning to Brazil. Fabio is at Grêmio and Rafael plays for Botafogo, the club he and his twin brother both supported as children.

Radja and Riana Nainggolan

Ex-Inter Milan hardman Radja Nainggolan has been a fixture in Serie A for years and is currently playing in Indonesia at the age of 35 with Bhayangkara.

The former Belgian international also has a twin sister, Raina, who played professional football and indoor football and also represented her country in 2015.

Paul’s older twin siblings may not have quite enjoyed their younger brother’s level of success – most notably winning the World Cup for France in 2018 – but are serviceable journeymen who have played and both represent Guinea. at international level.

Lars and Sven Bender

The almost identical midfielders came together as youngsters through the ranks of 1860 Munich before parting ways – Lars to Bayer Leverkusen and Sven to Borussia Dortmund – only to be reunited in 2017 when the latter joined his brother at Leverkusen.

Both brothers have since retired, with Lars taking up a coaching position within Germany’s international youth academy and Sven on site as assistant manager at Dortmund.

The tall and intimidating Berezutsky brothers formed a human wall in defense of both CSKA Moscow and the Russian national team from 2003 to 2016.

Halil and Hamit Altintop

Both the Turkish internationals and the Altintop twins Schalke stalwarts enjoyed decent careers. Hamit – who is ten minutes older – was a gifted midfielder who won the Puskas Award in 2010 with a thunderous volley against Kazakhstan.

Manchester United ushered in the second generation of a new family dynasty in April 2024 when the club agreed professional terms with the twin sons of former midfielder Darren Fletcher.

Jack and Tyler, both 17, left Manchester City’s youth system in 2023 to sign their first professional contracts with United, the club for whom their father made more than 200 appearances in a trophy-laden 12-year spell in which he played five Premier League games won. League titles, the FA Cup and the Champions League.

After coming through Norwich City’s academy together, the two wingers have since seen their careers diverge, with Jacob playing in the Champions League this season with Newcastle United and Josh plying his trade in League One with Oxford United.

The Swedish internationals, both left-backs by trade, have built quite a professional career and even played together for a short time at Blackburn Rovers. After similar spells in English football, the Olsson brothers are now both back in the Swedish league with Martin in Malmö and Marcus in Halmstad.

The Olssons’ brother-in-law is former NBA star Dirk Nowitzki, who married the twins’ older sister, Jessica, in 2012.

Ray and Rod Wallace

The Wallaces were the first ever twins to play in the Premier League, both playing for Leeds United in the early 1990s. Ray retired after just seven appearances, but Rod scored 45 goals in 197 top-flight games.

However, the Wallaces’ story actually began in Southampton, where older brother Danny broke into the first team in 1980. Ray and Rod then both signed for the Saints, and in October 1988, against Sheffield Wednesday, all three were on the pitch at the same time. It was the first time in 68 years that three brothers played for the same team.

Both sons of a professional footballer, Ramiro (the centre-back) is the one who used to play for Everton, while Rogelio (the striker) brought in the goals for Monterrey to the point where he is the club’s all-time player. top scorer.

Thomas and Andreas Ravelli

Former goalkeeper Thomas is revered as one of Sweden’s greatest ever players, with 143 senior caps; he represented his country at the 1990 World Cup, the 1992 European Championship and the 1994 World Cup, even winning the prestigious Guldbollen award from 1981.

That said, centre-back Andreas was also a decent player and managed 41 caps himself.

David and Philipp Degen

The brothers were selected to represent Switzerland at the 2006 World Cup. There is not much to divide their careers as they have both won multiple Swiss league titles in Basel (four times together), although Philipp has more than twice as many caps as his brother. But Philipp could probably benefit from it, having played for Liverpool and spent three seasons at Dortmund.

Dean and David Holdsworth

The Holdsworths started out together as youngsters at Watford in the late 1980s before their careers took different paths. However, they reunited at Bolton for a very short time in the 1990s before both moved into management.