20 Players to Make International Choices as Januzaj Eyes Belgium World Cup Squad
Adnan Januzaj has ended speculation about his international future, having previously been eligible to play for up to six nations through his birth place, parents' and grand-parents' heritage and, in the future, for England if he remained in the country for a further four years.
As per BBC Sport, the attacking midfielder has decided to play for Belgium, the nation of his birth, and will be aiming to make a late run into the World Cup squad for the summer tournament in Brazil.
Here we take a look at other players who had to make a decision just like that of Januzaj.
Adnan Januzaj
1 of 20
Januzaj could have played for England in the future, but his more immediate options were Kosovo, Albania, Turkey and Serbia, along with Belgium of course.
In opting for Belgium he will compete against the likes of Nacer Chadli, Kevin Mirallas and Dries Mertens for an attacking midfield spot.
That would likely see him play alongside Eden Hazard and Kevin de Bruyne, both of whom are regular starters in attack.
Wayne Rooney
2 of 20
Wayne Rooney might be only a handful of appearances short of a century of caps for England now, but back when he was a teenager making his way in the Everton first team, he had the offer of representing Ireland.
Clearly, even at that stage it was obvious what a talent Rooney was going to be, and the offer was declined in the expectation of being an England regular.
He made his debut for his country at 17 and has since scored 38 goals, making him the fifth-highest scorer of all time.
Diego Costa
3 of 20
Diego Costa made two international appearances for Brazil, his birth country, but was basically discarded by his nation and recently switched to Spain.
The Atletico Madrid striker has had a magnificent season and looks set to top that off by appearing in the World Cup—in his own country, but playing for his adopted nation.
Costa made his Spain debut against Italy in March.
Emmanuel Adebayor
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Spurs striker Emmanuel Adebayor is a Togolese international and has been captain of his nation, but being born to Yoruba parents was also eligible to play for African rivals Nigeria.
Adebayor has netted 27 goals in 57 caps for Togo, despite a brief spell having retired from international football.
That of course came in the aftermath of the shooting on the national team bus before the AFCON 2010 tournament.
Tim Howard
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Tim Howard is well established as the USMNT's No. 1 goalkeeper these days, and no great surprise. Just four shy of 100 caps, the 35-year-old should reach that milestone during the World Cup itself.
Despite being born in New Jersey, Howard was raised by his mother after his parents split, who was Hungarian.
He could have therefore been a European international player, though Jurgen Klinsmann and co. are no doubt pleased he opted for the US side.
Bojan Krkic
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Barcelona forward Bojan Krkic was considered one of the most prodigious young talents when making his breakthrough into the first team, having already starred at youth team level for club and country.
Born in Spain but with a Serbian father—a former professional footballer—Bojan was given the chance to play for Serbia, but opted against.
Naturally, at the time, it was expected he would go on to feature regularly for Spain, but his career has since dipped dramatically and he has only played once. He also plays for Catalonia.
Kevin Gameiro
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Striker Kevin Gameiro briefly considered playing for Portugal, which he qualifies for through one of his grandparents, but made it quite clear that he would always prefer France back in 2010.
He has since gone on to make eight appearances at international level for his own country, scoring once, though is far from a regular in the squad. Olivier Giroud and Karim Benzema are both ahead of him as senior strikers.
Rafinha
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Barcelona midfielder Rafinha can play for both Spain and Brazil.
The youngster was born in Sao Paulo but has resided in Spain for years, being part of the Barca set-up since his early teens, making him eligible for both.
Rafinha played for Spain's under-17s and under-19s youth teams, but later opted to switch to the country of his birth and has since played for Brazil under-20s.
Thiago Alcantara
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One of those odd circumstances of footballers switching nationalities is that family members can feature against each other on the international stage.
That could be the case for the Alcantaras—Rafinha's brother Thiago is already a Spanish international, obviously being able to represent Brazil too, and was actually born in Italy.
Thiago Alcantara has played five times at senior level for Spain.
Kevin-Prince Boateng
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Another similar scenario: Kevin-Prince Boateng played for the Germany youth teams earlier in his career, including at under-21 level, before switching to represent Ghana at full level.
It is Boateng's father, a Ghanaian, who enabled Kevin-Prince to switch allegiances, just before the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
He has made 10 appearances for his country.
Jerome Boateng
11 of 20
Kevin-Prince might represent Ghana, but half-brother Jerome Boateng represents Germany.
A regular in the national team, he has made 37 appearances so far for his nation, though had the strange circumstance to play opposite Kevin-Prince in the 2010 World Cup itself.
As the two share a father, Jerome also could have played for Ghana.
Bacary Sagna
12 of 20
Bacary Sagna is of course a long-term France international, having played close to 40 times for his national team, but he could have represented Senegal instead.
Indeed, as a young emerging defender he contacted the Senegalese authorities himself, only to not receive an invitation to play until he was already part of the France under-21 setup.
His cousin, Ibrahima Sonko, is a Senegalese international.
Leon Osman
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32-year-old midfielder Leon Osman has represented England, the country of his birth, on two occasions, though was also eligible to play for Turkey.
There was some speculation that he could move to play for the nation of his father's origins, especially as he passed his 30th birthday without debuting for England.
A pair of caps, one a competitive match against San Marino, ended such talk.
Brede Hangeland
14 of 20
Fulham's giant central defender Brede Hangeland is the Norway captain and has made close to a hundred appearances for the Scandinavian country, but was actually born in the United States, in Texas.
He left the States at an early age and had no obvious connection to play for the US, going on to win 90 caps so far for Norway, scoring four times.
Karim Benzema
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France's striker set-up might have been very different, but along with Gameiro, Karim Benzema also opted to play for the country of his birth.
Benzema's parents are of Algerian descent and the African nation approached the then-Lyon striker about representing them at international level, in 2006. He did not make his French senior debut until the following year.
He has since made 65 appearances for France, scoring 19 times.
Giuseppe Rossi
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Born to Italian parents in New Jersey, Giuseppe Rossi grew up in the United States until moving to Italy with Parma before his teenage years, where he began his career.
In 2006, still uncapped at international level, USA invited him to train with the squad before the World Cup, but Rossi was already set on his desire to play for Italy.
He played for them at every youth level from under-16s through to under-21s, and has since made 29 senior appearances too.
Neven Subotic
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Borussia Dortmund defender Neven Subotic is another who, like Rossi, could have played for the United States, though his circumstances are entirely different.
Subotic was born in the former Yugoslavia, with Bosnian and Serbian parents. The family moved to Germany and later to America, where Subotic continued his youth career and represented USA at U-17 and U-20 levels.
After moving to Europe and turning professional, Subotic elected to represent Serbia, though he was also eligible for USA and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Danny Higginbotham
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One of the more recent nationality switches has been because of a new UEFA member nation: Danny Higginbotham was born and played his entire career—other than a brief loan spell in Belgium as a youngster—in England, but played for Gibraltar in their first ever game.
His uncle, Allen Bula, is the national team manager, with Higginbotham's grandmother being from Gibraltar.
Already well into his 30s by that time, the defender retired shortly afterward, playing three times in total for Gibraltar.
Owen Hargreaves
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We'll finish up with two players heading a little further back in time, showing that it is far from only modern-day players who switch nationalities and represent different countries at their choosing.
Owen Hargreaves eventually played for England, but his club football was in Germany and he was born in Canada. He also played in the Welsh youth teams, with his mother being from that country, but did not reach under-21 level with Wales.
Hargreaves was the first player to play for England without having ever lived in the country, and later went on to win 42 caps.
Alfredo Di Stefano
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Alfredo Di Stefano is regarded as one of the top forwards the world has seen, playing out a large part of a hugely successful career with Real Madrid in the 1950s and 60s.
He also scored 23 times for Spain in 31 caps—but was born in Argentina, and represented them first of all. He also later played for Colombia after moving there to continue his football career, before his move to Spain, where he acquired citizenship.
Not that it mattered at the time, but Di Stefano's parents were of Italian, Irish and French heritage; one can only imagine the international tug-of-war which would have surrounded him in the modern age of the game.
