One third of players at Euro 2016 eligible for another country

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Statistics suggest this year’s European Championships will be one of the most multicultural of all time.

France have the highest number of players with connections to other countries

Euro 2016 is poised to be one of the most diverse championships of all time, with figures gathered by NetBet suggesting that as many one third of players due to appear at the tournament are eligible to play for other nations.

The bookmaker’s interactive map, entitled The Multicultural Championship, tracked the origins of all 552 players at this summer’s tournament and found that 166 players can trace their heritage elsewhere.

Additionally, over half the players selected by Roy Hodgson and Chris Coleman could have pledged their international career to another nation, including England captain Wayne Rooney, who could have played for the Republic of Ireland through his grandparents.

England’s Wayne Rooney in action

England have a total of 12 players with foreign ancestry, five of which have ties with Jamaica, making them the fifth-most diverse squad in the competition.

Wales and the Republic of Ireland are not far behind with 10 each, while Northern Ireland have six.

However, figures suggest hosts France are the most diverse, with 65 per of the current squad having roots elsewhere, including 11 players of African heritage.

Switzerland and Albania, who are set meet each other in Lens on Saturday, are just behind the French with 14 and 13 players respectively.

Switzerland’s Granit Xhaka is set to face his brother this weekend

Interestingly, both sides also have a strong connection to each other, with Albania’s squad containing six players that could have chosen to play for Switzerland, including Taulant Xhaka, who could come up against his brother, and new Arsenal signing, Granit.

Should the pair meet this weekend, it will be the first time in the history of the European Championships that two brothers have faced off against each other.

Guadeloupe, Indonesia, Nigeria and Pakistan, are just some of the other countries to have connections to this year’s tournament, with Romania the only team not to have a single player with roots elsewhere.