Association Football Trivia Thread
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No. If you want a clue, all three countries are in Europe but they're not the home nations.
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Many players have played full FIFA-credited internationals at senior level for more than one country;
Thiago Motta (Brasil & Italy), Alfredo di Stefano (Argentina & Spain) and Ferenc Puskas (Hungary & Spain) being examples.
As far as I am aware, only one player has played full FIFA-credited internationals at senior level with three countries.
Who is he?
This excludes players whose FIFA-nationalities changed due to their country becoming defunct such as Oleksiy Mykhaylychenko, who played for the USSR, the interim CIS team and then Ukraine.
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Hmm. The most prolific goalscorer ever, Josef Bican, played for three nations, but...
They were Austria, Czechoslovakia and Bohemia. Bohemia was, for a very brief period, the name given to Czechoslovakia when it was annexed by Nazi Germany and became "the protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia"... so that one might not count.
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I think Czechoslovakia becoming a defunct nation would stymie that one.
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I have a reach...
There was a player who definitely played for Hungary and Spain - alongside Puskas, as it happens, and for similar reasons - and later the Catalonia regional team as he sort of adopted Barcelona, and vice versa, by the name of Laszlo/Ladislao Kubala. By all accounts he's rather famous among Barcelona fans.
I don't know if he played for Czechoslovakia, but Kubala is more of a Slavic name than it is an Ugric one so perhaps he qualified by father or grandparent and played a game or something?
That's the best and most random I can do and even if it's wrong it keeps the thread going
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You are... correct!
Ladislav Kubala was an ethnic Slovak born in Budapest. After starting his career with Ferencvaros, he moved to Bratislava in 1946 to avoid Hungarian military conscription during which time he played 6 games and scored 4 goals for Czechoslovakia. In 1948 he moved back to Budapest to avoid Czechoslovak conscription and played 3 games for the Hungary before moving to Spain in 1950 with the political situation in Hungary turning sour. He played 19 times for Spain and scored 11 goals in the 1950s, and additionally played for Catalonia and a Europe XI on more than one occasion.
As it happens, his main club career after Slovan Bratislava saw him score 131 goals in 186 games for Barcelona, scoring 14 hat-tricks. In 1999 he was voted as Barcelona's greatest ever player to celebrate the club's centenary.
In a long coaching career after playing he was Spain's manager from 1969-1980 and qualified for the 1978 World Cup, Spain's first for 12 years at that time.
So in summary, he played for Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Spain at FIFA-affiliated senior international level and is the only player to have done so for three countries, not counting players whose countries had become defunct.
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Wow. Not bad for a proper reach
On a semi-related note, I'm aware of seven occasions where father, son and grandson have all had full international caps. Name them
And that's no sons-in-law, no grandsons by uncapped sons, and no youth team caps, just direct male line from grandfather to father/son to grandson, all with full international caps.
Edit:
1. Vladimir Weiss I, Vladimir Weiss II, Vladimir Weiss III (all Austria) - @Liquid
2. Marcos Alonso Imaz, Marcos Alonso Pena, Marcos Alonso Mendoza (all Spain) - @Liquid
3. Kenneth Kluivert (Suriname), Patrick Kluivert, Justin Kluivert (both Netherlands) - @Liquid
4. Yehia Emam, Hamada Emam, Hazem Emam (all Egypt) - @sems4arsenal
5. Salvinu Schembri, Eric Schembri, Andre Schembri (all Malta) - given away because impossible
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The Allen dynasty are bound to be in there somewhere. I've lost track of how many of them there are.Wow. Not bad for a proper reach
On a semi-related note, I'm aware of seven occasions where father, son and grandson have all had full international caps. Name them
And that's no sons-in-law, no grandsons by uncapped sons, and no youth team caps, just direct male line from grandfather to father/son to grandson, all with full international caps.
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You'd think so, but no. Les Allen didn't get a full cap, and although Clive did, Clive's kids very didn't. None of Les's brother Dennis, Dennis's son Martin or Martin's son Paul played international football further than youth teams.
If you want to feel really old, Ian Wright is not far off being the grandfather in a chain. Obviously he has some England caps (33), his son Shaun Wright-Phillips (hey, I didn't say biological) has too (36) - although Bradley doesn't - and Shaun's kid D'Margio (what?) is an England U16 international.
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Depends how far back you want to go when it comes to what's considered "our" islands
Otherwise, none. I will say that the nations involved in capping these 22 individuals (and yes, there's a bonus player
) are Austria, Egypt, Ghana, Malta, Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Surinam and USA.There's a whole mess of others where the youngest has represented a country at multiple junior levels but not yet a full cap.
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Ah, I use our islands collectively (but not possessively) when talking to Irish people. "I'm from one island, you're from another island." 
Huh, I'm actually surprised to see a lack of home nations there. My first thought was the Ayews upon seeing Ghana but Abedi Pele and his sons Jordan and Andre Ayew only go to two generations...
Netherlands and Suriname seems an obvious link. I do know Patrick Kluivert's dad was a footballer but I don't know beyond that. The Seedorfs and Hasselbainks are one gen only, I think.
Huh, I'm actually surprised to see a lack of home nations there. My first thought was the Ayews upon seeing Ghana but Abedi Pele and his sons Jordan and Andre Ayew only go to two generations...
Netherlands and Suriname seems an obvious link. I do know Patrick Kluivert's dad was a footballer but I don't know beyond that. The Seedorfs and Hasselbainks are one gen only, I think.
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Whilst I'm fairly certain that Kluivert is a goer, the rest of the question has been tainted somewhat because it came up whilst researching some other things and gave away three other answers.
Funnily enough, two of the answers share the same names.
Funnily enough, two of the answers share the same names.
Marcos Alonso Sr, Marcos Alonso Jr and Marcos Alonso III (Spain)
Vladimir Weiss Sr, Vladimir Weiss Jr, Vladimir Weiss III (Czechoslovakia and Slovakia)
Albert Gudmundsson, Inge Albertson, Kristbjörg Ingedottir m. Gudmundur Benediktsson, Albert Gudmundsson Jr (Iceland)
Vladimir Weiss Sr, Vladimir Weiss Jr, Vladimir Weiss III (Czechoslovakia and Slovakia)
Albert Gudmundsson, Inge Albertson, Kristbjörg Ingedottir m. Gudmundur Benediktsson, Albert Gudmundsson Jr (Iceland)
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He was indeed - Kenneth Kluivert played three games (scoring twice) for Surinam, while Patrick played 79 times for the Netherlands (scoring 40) - but you need a third
Ah, only two - the Icelandic one isn't a direct male line: Gudmundsson's son Inge is not Gudmundsson's father. Indeed Gudmundsson would be Ingesson if he was
Alonso, Alonso and Alonso (technically Marcos Alonso Imaz, Marcos Alonso Pena and Marcos Alonso Mendoza) and the three Vladimir Weisses are both correct.
And the easiest two answers, unless you're a big fan of US Soccer
The other three answers might be a nightmare to get if you're not big into Maltese or Singaporean football, and even the Egyptian one is a bit of a puzzler. I won't tell you where Ghana comes into it though.
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On a semi-related note, I'm aware of seven occasions where father, son and grandson have all had full international caps. Name them
And that's no sons-in-law, no grandsons by uncapped sons, and no youth team caps, just direct male line from grandfather to father/son to grandson, all with full international caps.
Edit:
1. Vladimir Weiss I, Vladimir Weiss II, Vladimir Weiss III (all Austria) - @Liquid
2. Marcos Alonso Imaz, Marcos Alonso Pena, Marcos Alonso Mendoza (all Spain) - @Liquid
3. Kenneth Kluivert (Suriname), Patrick Kluivert, Justin Kluivert (both Netherlands) - @Liquid
I don't think anyone's going to get the Malta or Singapore ones without looking them up, but our US members should be able to get their one quite easily (two of the players are a very recent memory - their last games were 1991 and 2014). And @sems4arsenal can probably get the Egyptian one.I will say that the nations involved in capping these 22 individuals (and yes, there's a bonus player
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Hmm, not too many US players have played in Germany so that ought to narrow it down somewhat but I can't think of the dad and grandad link either.
There are several recent players who have been US-German thanks to their dads being stationed in Germany and having a child but I highly doubt that Jermaine Johnson or Tim Chandler could be the answer. It would be extremely unlikely for a solider stationed in West Germany to have had a cap...
There are several recent players who have been US-German thanks to their dads being stationed in Germany and having a child but I highly doubt that Jermaine Johnson or Tim Chandler could be the answer. It would be extremely unlikely for a solider stationed in West Germany to have had a cap...
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Yup - and goalkeepers do come into it eventually too
I think it's nothing more complex than a transfer - although his youth career started in the USA, he was then on the books at Hoffenheim, and got one match in for Borussia Dortmund.
His dad played for some of those comedy US teams in the 1990s, like the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Montreal Impact. His dad immigrated to the USA in 1968 and played for the Washington Whips, Darts and Diplomats, for some reason, but his international career was before that, and not for the USA.
