Pio and Sebastiano Esposito started in the Azzurri lineup on Monday night in Italy's 4-1 victory over Turkey, marking the first time in 111 years that two brothers were in the main lineup of Italy together. This event represents a historic achievement in Italian football.
History of Brothers in the Italian National Team
This has only happened three times before in the history of Italian football. The first time was when Giuseppe and Felice Milan played together for the national team in 1912 and 1913. Then Aldo and Luigi Cevenini in 1915 and Filippo and Simone Inzaghi in 2000 were part of the Azzurri lineup. The story of the Ceveninis in 1915 was even more interesting; they both scored in a match against Switzerland, with all three goals for Italy being scored by them.
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Now, after 111 years, two Italian brothers have played simultaneously in the main lineup of the Azzurri again. However, the story is not limited to Pio and Sebastiano. Their older brother, Salvatore, has also played for the Italian national team and made his international debut in 2022. Thus, the Espositos are the first three-brother family in the history of Italy to have all three brothers wear the Azzurri jersey at the senior level.
National Team Brothers in World Football
Italy has had other national team brothers throughout history; Giuseppe and Franco Baresi, Cristian and Damiano Zenoni, Carlo and Alessandro Rampini, and Mario and Giovanni Vargelin. However, none of them have been able to play together in a match for the Azzurri like the Espositos. Fabio and Paolo Cannavaro also reached the national team, but Paolo never played for Italy.
Interestingly, the story of national team brothers is not limited to Italy. In England, Gary and Phil Neville both played for the national team, in Belgium Romelu and Jordan Lukaku, and in Northern Ireland, Jonny and Corey Evans also took the field. Some brothers even played for different national teams; like Jerome and Kevin-Prince Boateng, who faced each other in the 2010 and 2014 World Cups.
Now the Espositos have another family record: three brothers who have all worn the Italy jersey, and two of them have finally managed to play together in a match. If a fourth brother reaches the national team, this record will become even more unattainable.
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